Ecco the Dolphin: Beyond the Song
by Singer of Time
Summary: Ecco travels to the frozen north to find more trouble...and discovers a new legend. A new story created during a fanfiction contest. The first chapter wasn't created by me...the rest were. (Finished! R&R Please)
1. Beginning

Title: (Ecco the Dolphin: Beyond the Song)

Original Teaser By: Clan Keeper. Edited By: (OrcaCaller)

Copyright information: The beginning of this story written as a fanfiction contest teaser. It is not copyrighted, and may be modified as the author sees fit. Any fanfiction written with this teaser may be freely distributed. The Ecco characters are copyrighted by Sega.

* * *

An icy chill rosed inside Ecco. The water which he swam in was as cold as any polar ice flow, only worse. His mind stayed focused as he passed two huge chunks of icebergs before they crashed into one another, the sound of the crunching and packing of ice momentarily filling the dark cold abyss. As he swam, his mind relapsed the reason why he was here in the first place.

A few weeks ago, while back home with his pod, a cry was heard and he was the first to respond. To the pod's shock and disbelief, Ecco had returned with a injured Orca calf, large gashes across his sides and belly. The poor thing was near death and there was nothing the pod could do. "Little whale, who or what has happened to you?", Ecco asked. The calf managed to explain his coming before death silenced him.

"My...my pod was attacked. By a creature not of this world, but neither Foe or Vortex race. Another being who's gain a taste for Orca blood. They desire dolphin, but can't leave the icy waters of the polar seas. They are weak in warm water. I came here to be safe...but one followed me and I was attacked. If you are truely the brave Ecco, please... save my people from these green and red creatures of death. Th...the Asterite may know! Go to him, tell him! My people call out your name in fear, they...need you." Finally the little whale's eyes closed and the last bit of air in his lungs bubbled out.

Ecco turned to his pod, he knew what must be done to save his black and white polar cousins. "I alone must do this task. I ask you all remain here till my return. I do not know how long I shall be gone, but I promise I will be alive. As long as the stars that mine mimic in the sky still shine, I will return." With that, he pointed his nose north and started the long trek to find any clues of living Orcas within the bone chilling polar seas.

Ecco peeked around every corner of every iceberg, dipping his head out when he breathed listening and looking for signs of mists rising from a Orca's blowhole. Among the things that Ecco found intolerable in the frozen sea, the selection and taste of the fish was not on Ecco's mind. How did those Orcas learn to eat this frozen fish-icles was beyond his wildest imagination.

For two weeks Ecco's search brought him to a grim- looking wasteland of black rock and gray silt. Nothing seem to move except the bottoms of slow moving icebergs. Ecco shot out a blast of sonar, surely a whale would be here? The return sound gave Ecco nothing. He turned to his left and fired a sonar, but this time, the sound bounced off a large wall, half went pass that and came back a faint ping. A cave, he thought and swam over to the round large opening in the cave.

As he got closer, he was greeted by a warm current of water. "How could warm water be here so close to the polar ice cap?", he wondered. Before entering, he blast a sonar sound. What he got in return was a low rum sound, so faint it was barely hearable. Something pictured in Ecco's mind, a ancient creature, the Bowhead whale. A whale that was said to live over 100 and seen the evils of man hunting their kind, they've now become the "ghosts" of the polar seas. Could this cave lead to another side of the sea and to these whales? Or was it the monstous beings that were killing pods of Orca?

Ecco took the chance and entered the cave, not sure what would was on the other side, waiting for him


	2. Mystery

Ecco's near-frozen fluke was instantly filled with a renewed energy as he entered the cavern with hesitance. A shiver was sent as a silent tremor through his nerves as he made the rapid transaction from bitter cold to enveloping warmth.

By this time, the dolphin wasn't surprised that he could find something strange. That happened when it was heard that creatures from beyond the stars were feeding from Earth's oceans.

He sighed at the memory. It was still so vivid...the flash of red...the feeling of weightlessness he endured as he heard his pod's surprised calls...the long journey over miles of ocean and above the Earth itself...

Then his encounter with the Foe, deadly cousins of the Vortex, whose planet orbited the same sun...

He blinked, and used his blasts of sonar again through the blinding darkness of the arctic cavern. Ecco wasn't too worried...the Foe were long gone, as were the Vortex. Both creatures nothing but a harsh memory.

But now what has he to deal with? Something stronger than either race? Something that gave the great Orcas, the most feared hunters in all oceans, fear?

The cavern's strange warmth was an amazing feeling to Ecco. It reminded him of how he felt as a calf when his mother was there to comfort and sing to him. For a moment, all feelings of foreboding left him, questioning as he swam whether or not he was indeed facing a new threat.

The swim along the cavern was getting fiercely long...he silently thanked the Asterite for his immortality. Could it really have been whale song replying to him?

It sounded as ancient, thoughtful, and somehow lost. Whalesong was always somewhat tough to interpret, even to the most skilled of the smaller singers.

Suddenly, he stopped, confused. His sonar was showing something ahead in the darkness...a wall of stone, the end of the cavern.

He searched every inch, listening to the complex notes of echoes that rang back to him. He saw smooth and jagged outcroppings, stone that seemingly made a thick barrier.

With a small chirp in confusion, he looked around again for even a tiny hole. "What have I stumbled into now...?" he asked himself aloud, just to break the eerie silence.

He found not even a tiny niche. With a sigh, he turned back. He didn't want to leave this warm water, but he had to endure the freezing cold again. Something...an instinct, a vague feeling, whatever it was...once again was calling him with a message of wrong.

He aimed his sonar where he came from...but his eyes widened.

The tunnel that was behind him...it wasn't there...

Just another impenetrable wall of stone. Frantically his song's echoes moved from every angle of the cavern until he rotated in a full circle.

"Impossible! I'm sure I swam here through a tunnel! How can I be trapped?" he asked the empty space. Each time he tried, he was only sure that his sonar returned with barriers.

The darkness, so absolute, began to close on him. His song stopped. Then, once more, he sent out another wave of sonar, to see if he missed something.

But what returned to him was something completely different...

It looked like teeth...closing around him...


	3. Light

Trapped!

By now, Ecco's inner ears were ringing from the notes of his own song, its purpose turned from a simple search to the dolphin version of gibberish...meaningless, and therefore loud, harsh, and terrifying. His hopeless cries were the only sources of noise.

His eyes were closed, and he dared not open them again. He's faced many big foes, but nothing like this, nothing that he couldn't really see! As he viewed with his echolocation alone, the teeth seemed to surround and envelop him, and he felt as if he was being crushed. His body was calling for space...for air...for life...

Finally, he gave a small squeak of defeat. Ecco floated, letting his muscles relax, and his eyes squinted tightly shut as he awaited the blow of death. Perhaps it would come from being crushed as he was swallowed down this monstrous creature's esophagus.

Perhaps it would come from the putrid acid in its stomach. Digested alive...he could already feel his skin starting to burn from the very thought of it.

His song stopped as he drooped. The cavern once again went silent. The monstrous jaws, jagged teeth like a cage, were most certainly poised around him.

He waited...waited...waited. Tensed as he thought he heard something, yet he wasn't moving. 

Waited some more...

But the warmth that he encountered in the cavern didn't waver. It didn't change into a blast of cold or a blast of searing heat from stomach acid. No...the temperature was exactly the same.

Ecco's skin was untouched. It still felt like empty water around him, nothing more. He moved his fluke, and it thrashed water...not teeth or jaw muscle.

Slowly he opened his eyes. The cavern was still pitch dark. If he had died, wouldn't there be a light of some sort?

He sent a cautious blast of sonar, and flinched again. He was still surrounded by moving jaws. But he swam in a circle, trying to ram whatever it was, only to find he was still in water.

Ecco charged empty space, confused. "What trickery is this?" he asked aloud. Only his echoes answered him.

With a slow sigh, he wondered how something like this was possible. He had heard myths from other singers that complete darkness would soon drive any creature to insanity. Only the deep-dwellers evolved there, were immune.

It would have taken years for that to happen though. Months, maybe.

"Illusions..." he whispered to the ebon space. Ecco swam about the space, searching for anything living with unaided hearing, no sonar.

He found nothing. It was then it dawned on him.

"Illusions! The jaws...the barrier of rocks suddenly appearing...it's all a trick! It must be!"

Righting himself, Ecco powered his fluke forward, no longer relying on his sonar but his own educated guess, hoping with all of his heart that he was right, that there wasn't a creature there simply toying with him before finishing him off. As he passed the area and into another tunnel, he felt a tingling sensation.

Ecco suddenly let out a screech. Something powerful had seemed to seize him. But what they had seized was his mind, not his body.

And once again he heard the strange, whale-like song. He could not understand the language, it was too ancient...the earliest of whalesong. But he understood through words that just seemed to appear in his mind. He fought the mental pain to try and read it...but understood only parts.

_...Amazing...there is...presence...strongest will that has...enter...realm! Cannot...spirit..._

That was all he caught before he closed his eyes, a sudden blinding light seizing his body and leading him through the strange warmth.

A part of Ecco wanted to fight against it. Another part wanted to stay within and find what he has come to find...even if it meant that he would never leave again.

The adventurous dolphin had to take his chances. The white color that shined in his eyelids were accompanied by melodies never before sung by his kind...


	4. Tides

The thousands of songs humming and buzzing through the oceans carried Ecco through the strange presence of light. Every other sound became irrelevent to him...he simply wanted to focus on the calls.

Finally, the brightness in his eyelids dimmed. Carefully he opened them again, one after the other. What he beheld made him gasp softly.

_I thought I was in the frozen north waters! This can't be the same place!_ he thought.

Instead of harsh, terribly cold waters pressing in around him, the water was warmer than his own home near the equator. Instead of massive white glaciers and icebergs silently pressing in around the waters, there were beds of sand and smooth rocks, leading up to beaches that looked so foreign, a virtual paradise of a mix of many different trees. Where the waters were nearly devoid of life, here were so many schools of blazingly colorful fish.

_It's impossible for a place like this to exist in frozen waters..._

A sudden chorus of echoes made him refocus. The bay he found himself in was small enough for him to explore, with plenty of ocean to play in. It was an Atlantis created by nature herself, untouched and untainted.

A giant shape suddenly appeared before him, slowly cruising near the surface and casting a vast shadow on the floor. It was definitely a whale...but it disappeared in a zone of shadows before Ecco could see what kind it was. He shot quickly out of his stance and followed the whale, wherever it went.

Peering around a coral bed, he finally found the source of the beautiful singing. But its tone wasn't happy...it was mournful.

He was in the very center of the bay. A pod of about twenty great whales were converged at the surface, spyhopping and staying near it. Their rumbles and reverberations were so close that they passed through Ecco's body in wave after wave.

And they sang. Ecco was perplexed, for a whale's song could be decifered by others most of the time...but as he suspected, this was a dialect that not even he knew...that not even anyone knew. It was whalesong practiced long ago...before Man, before singers were even used to the ocean.

And now that Ecco noticed, the whales weren't in too definite a shape for him to recognize either. Some had fins as long as those of a Humpback, but not calloused. Others had small dorsal fins toward the back of their flukes. All were the size of a Blue, all were colored various shades of white and aquamarine, all were singing in the same tone, and all had baleen in place of teeth.

Staying back from the magnificent pod, Ecco poked his head above the surface to gaze at what the whales were viewing. But he saw nothing.

Suddenly, he dropped beneath the waves and cringed as the voice from before seized his mind again.

_A cousin._

The immense pod turned, their deep ebon eyes staring past Ecco with a mix of wisdom and...

Yes...hatred.

The dolphin backfinned slightly. "Hello...I am Ecco...what's wrong, have I done something?"

_The arctic seers just don't like what's become of singer-kind, little one. You are an example._


	5. Teeth

Ecco blinked and sighed as the entity released him once more. "What...what example am I? Show yourself, he who speaks!" he demanded.

The great beasts budged not an inch, but exchanged glances between them, as if trying to understand the dolphin.

_They don't understand me...of course, they speak only the most ancient song...but who is it then that's speaking to me?_

His mind was gripped again. _I won't show myself yet, ye with the stars of Delphineus adorning his crown. You will first speak who you are, and why you have come here._

Ecco stared at the group of strange, nearly spiritual whales before him. It was awkward to try explaining himself to creatures that couldn't understand him...yet he tried anyway. "I came here following your songs, and a strange current. I was...am...in the frozen north seas, looking for Orca..."

_Cursed! Cursed!_ the sudden outburst interrupted Ecco and made him cringe. _You will find no such beasts here, in these sacred waters, little singer. The murderers of singer-kind are not welcome._

Ecco snarled lightly. "Speak not of the Orcas that way! They are as much singers as I am, as my family is. As for their nature, it is only how they survive. The singers of my ocean have forgiven them of that as of late."

The group of whales understood Ecco's tone, and a few of them grumbled lowly. The voice once again spoke for them. _Fine. Continue explaining yourself._

The dolphin nodded. "I'm fairly certain that you have heard of me, Ecco, destroyer of the Vortex and Foe menace, once the threats to the Earth and the rightful order of time. Well, a dying calf that I had come upon gave me a new threat. Creatures that thirst for Orca blood haunt the Arctic waters. No matter what, I will find out what I can...I owe it to the calf that died beside me." He released a light chirp in a sigh before eying the whales. "Now, your turn. Tell me who you are, and where I am."

The whales lifted their voices in unison, a song that preluded a story. _Aye, we have heard of the great Ecco and your deeds. There is no doubt as to how you found and penetrated our cavern and found this blessed paradise. For you see, the trap in the cave is created from the dilusion all creatures have after moving through darkness for a long time. Imagination becomes their enemy. Strengths, in your case, sonar, becomes weakness...and reality becomes your impossible salvation. It is for our safety._

This warm bay is the last of the ancient oceans, when the great whales started their migrations here. They came feed, to love, and to sing...and gather the knowledge of the world by searching for the top of it.

But when the world changed, when the north froze and humans began hunting our kind, our land became threatened. Using the last of their skills, the seers hid their land from ALL eyes...the other whales never found this place again. Each migration they come back, hoping to find what they have lost, but they find but remnants of a paradise encased in ice, and so live it as they would this place.

Over time, whales diverged into different creatures, such as you dolphins and porpoises. Each pod created its own song, and the song of the ancients was lost.

And soon, something went horribly wrong.

Ecco was entranced by the story. An ancient paradise that still existed in the frozen north waters was a wondrous story indeed. "And what was that? What went wrong?" he inquired.

But the voice gripped him again as the whales surrounded Ecco, their brilliant white and blue bodies shimmering like stars. _The seers have decided that you know too much, little Ecco. If you are so adamant on protecting the planet as we sense you are, then be gone and find out for yourself!_

Before he could object, Ecco was blinded by a flash of dazzling light, and he felt a lurch in his stomach and felt as if he was thrown through a time warp.

The whalesongs dissipated into silence, and the waters slowly became cold again, so cold that his fluke was instantly numb.

When he awoke, he heard nothing. He saw but the brilliant white crystalline, the dominant color of the frozen poles. Devoid of much life, as was usually the case.

_Was that just a dream?..._ Ecco pondered, but shrugged it off. The matter was near trivial...he had his mission.

His songs echoed through the icebergs and glaciers, calling through the glimmers of white.

And finally, he recieved a song back...several songs back...and an irregularity.


	6. Division

Ecco listened closely from behind a floating iceberg, careful not to be caught inbetween the moving ice floes. Carefully he tuned out the breaking and creaking of the ice friction and water lapping against the far shores...and listened to the songs before him.

Songs that were stern, harsh...songs that called for what his kind called cruelty...songs that were the call of the hunt.

Ecco breathed a sigh of relief. So there were Orcas alive here after all! But if they were here, they were the dangerous kind, the Transients. The calls were coming closer and becoming scattered.

Then the irregularity came again. This wasn't song at all...it sounded more like teeth gnashing together. The familiar feeling of foreboding tingled the stars on his head. "Oh no..." he chirped quietly before turning his attention to the clear waters just ahead of him.

Materializing from the dark water shadowed with ice was a large creature, swimming with a gait that was the very definition of authority. The familiar pattern appeared, black over white, the living yin-yang.

The Orca was a female from the way her dorsal looked, and the way that she sang as well. She was an elderly one, but experienced. Very shallow scars lined her flanks and down one side of her jaw. The eye spots, normally white, instead both had black spots in their very centers, like an extra set of eyes. The real eyes were black, yet still glimmered with anticipation of the hunt.

She called in the Orca's tongue out in all directions, and recieved distant information from the members of the pod she belonged to. _Good, so there are more of them..._ Ecco thought.

BAM!

Ecco jerked from his concentration. The iceberg that he had been hiding behind was suddenly rocked violently, as if something large had hit it.

Turning, Ecco charged out of the way of two massive pairs of charging jaws. The Orcas that had nearly torn the iceberg in two with their weights turned quickly after Ecco.

"Gnrr..." Ecco growled to himself. "Stupid! Should've been looking behind me, stupid, stupid! Now I'm going to become Orca fodder...unless..."

As the two Orcas snapped behind the dolphin, he suddenly jerked a turn straight for the female that he had seen in the clearing.

As soon as the two saw her, they immediately stopped. _I knew it, she's something important..._

The problem was, now he was trapped between two very hungry Orca and one large, still-powerful leader.

The two bowed to her respectfully. "_Diricha_-Cariu, look what we've found spying."

"Mm, dolphin..."

"I can see that," the female interrupted in a lightly rough voice. "I'll take care of the trespasser. The two of you get back with Darcteis."

_Sis, Diricha,_ they sang in unison in the tongue of the Orca before turning fluke again, leaving Ecco staring into the void-like eyes of the female.

"A dolphin, here?" she tilted her head lightly. "No little singer ever swims this far north. All we find here are the great whales, the narwhals, and the belugas. And all three of them are nothing like you." She swam around Ecco in a small circle, observing him. "What are you doing here, and speak clearly," she ordered.

Ecco gulped. Though he could take any one Orca near equally with his powers, his instincts were still something stronger. "I've come to warn your kind. It is fortunate that I have come across you and your pod, for all of you are in danger."

The female scoffed. "We shall see about that." Suddenly, a call rang out from her, strong as that of a great whale. "Scaroth! Darcteis! Biransa! Ronon! Seidrac! Here, now!"

Ecco looked at the female quizzically as she smirked. "Those five are my most trusted warriors. I am Cariu, the matriarch of the north waters. I lead five pods that come to feed, and have done so for many years. The five coming at my call are the leaders of those pods."

As five other Orcas, three male and two female, surrounded him, their large forms nearly masked the blue of the ocean away from his eyes.

Cariu smirked. "Now, explain yourself. And if we find belief that you are lying to us, you can be sure that I can beckon much more than this simple gathering."

The dolphin looked over the Orcas that floated before him. The one called Scaroth lived up to a part of his name...two long gashes stretched from the base of his dorsal, to either side of his blowhole and ending at the tip of his snout. Ronon was only slightly smaller, with brown eyes and unusually grayish-white eye spots. Biransa and Seidrac were the two females, the first one larger with the eyespots covering her eyes halfway, the other smaller with black spots that mottled her chin like freckles do human faces. Darcteis was the last male, smaller than the others, but with eyes of light violet instead of brown or black.

Ecco bowed his head to the matriarch. "I understand, I'll be brief...I've come looking for a pod of Orcas that still live here, for I've recieved grave news of a powerful creature not of Earth's seas. The creature thirsts for Orca blood, you must heed me and leave this place."

The five leaders snickered, but were silenced by a look from Cariu. "Indeed. And who are you to tell _us_ this?"

Ecco smiled and moved his head so the sunlight would catch the glare of his star pattern. "I'm Ecco, savior of Earth."

Only one Orca leader gasped lightly. The others stared at the dolphin. "Can we eat him now?" Darcteis asked. Cariu smirked again.

"Oh no..." Ecco chirped.


	7. Enemy

The one called Darcteis grinned with anticipation at a dolphin so close to his jaws...so close that he could taste it. Dolphins were extremely rare in the north seas...and yet, here one was.

Ecco glanced around nervously, but his muscles bunched up as if he were ready to charge. "Go ahead, try and eat me," he challenged the Orcas, "you will get very much resistance."

"With pleasure, _Stuuku..._delicacy..." Darcteis laughed and started to swim forward, but a snap of Cariu's jaws stopped him.

"Silence and halt, Darcteis. You know one of our most sacred laws must be upheld, even in our hunting grounds: we listen to the singer before we act. Or else, we break the bond with all of Delphineus' children." The old matriarch grinned. "Forgive my soldiers...they are wonderful warriors, but a bit long on arrogance. They know that killing you outright would make them all _Chistaktun,_" she said, the Orca word for "idiot" directed at Darcteis specifically. The others heeded her and stayed back.

"Now, you say your name is Ecco." Cariu nodded. "I've heard of you...I've yet to find what singer hasn't. But even with the mark of Delphineus before them, my eyes have seen too much deceit to believe what comes to me." The female took a brief blow at the surface. "So, I graciously grant you all the time you need to explain yourself. Then maybe I'll consider your claim of danger."

Ecco bowed. "Thank you, O mighty predator...I can see why you've been chosen as Matriarch. You're quite generous."

Cariu chuckled, which slowly turned into a snarl. "I'm also quite impatient. Now come to your point."

The dolphin nodded quickly. "Yes, well...as I've said, I've come searching for Orcas, any Orcas, who would listen to me. Some time ago I found a young calf of your kind, injured and dying. I tried, but he couldn't be helped...he told me of these creatures with green and red colors, faster than an Orca and powerful enough to destroy them. Their only weakness that I've known so far is that they cannot stand warm water, and so thrive here. That's why I've come to warn you, my cousins, please heed me and leave here." he finished.

Cariu tilted her head thoughtfully. "Fascinating story...and yet, you want us to disrupt our most ancient traditions and turn away from our migration."

"No, no, it's not that! I wouldn't come this far if it were not important!" Ecco insisted.

Darcteis growled, but Ronon blocked his path. "Take it easy...you'll get your meal, just wait...I'm intrigued..."

"As am I..." the large female called Biransa mused in a voice that was low and somewhat soothing. "I wouldn't take all warnings for untruth. Not with my calf still growing within me."

The other female, Seidrac, hummed in curiosity. "So you say this calf came from one of the pods in the north before they were destroyed by this...thing? What'd the calf look like?"

The remaining male, Scaroth, retained his silence, but in his eyes were pure worry. _Please..._

Ecco thought for a moment. "He looked like any other small one of yours, really...and I got the impression that his pod was to be the last to arrive at the frozen waters before they were attacked..."

"The last..." a low, deep voice mused before erupting. "The last!"

All eyes turned to Scaroth. "What ails you, brother?" Ronon asked gently.

Scaroth came forward, bowing his melon. "Forgive me, _Diricha..._ but I wasn't entirely truthful when I told you that I'd sent my pod to hunt on their own when I met you. M..." he gulped. "My pod was the last to arrive...but only I survive from them now." He sighed. "Ecco speaks the truth. These horrible creatures...I couldn't count how many overwhelmed us...my mate, my brothers and sisters, my cousins, my friends, my entire family were all decimated, not a bone left behind, their blood covered the ocean red...I escaped with my life...and there was only one young one that escaped also, barely alive. I was the one that sent him away for help."

The others gasped, and Cariu looked on forlornly. Small talks of "it was of our pod..." and "it's true..." rose from the others. All was silent before Ronon spoke up again. "So who was this young one, Scaroth?"

The marked male didn't remove the gaze from the dark sea hanging beneath him. "He was my son." He sighed as if trying not to cry.

The silence carried on. "So...you're a loner, now..." Seidrac said.

Ronon smiled. "My old friend, if my mother heeds it, you have an honorable place in my pod. We are terribly sorry of your loss." The others vocalized in agreement.

Ecco chirped. "All well and fine, but now that all of you know the truth, we should leave, now. If it was Scaroth's pod those things attacked, they could be near."

Suddenly, the terrifying sound of gnashing teeth were heard again.

Cariu snarled. "Too late..." As the shadows started moving, she glanced at Scaroth. "You've led them straight to us."


	8. Calls

As the Orca glanced about, their nerves shot with uncertainty and the urge to protect their pod, the creatures made themselves known. Their shadows were all the evidence the singers could see of them, until they simply materialized as if out of empty water.

Five of them in all. Bodies like singers, but with an extra pair of fins near the base of the flukes, equally as long as the front pair. The flukes themselves were barbed at the ends, like vicious spears. The heads weren't at all dolphin or whale...they resembled something like shark heads, with teeth more jagged in strange ways, and they seemed to communicate by grinding them to produce different sounds. The beasts were as large as the Orcas, but looked like a much stronger version. The eyes shifted different shades of purple and blue, and the bodies were pale green. Red stripes extended from their eyes all to the tall, bladed dorsal fins, making them look as if they've been cut.

They were hideous creatures, and they herded the mighty Orcas and dolphin in a circle like they were mere fish.

"Oh no, no..." Biransa and Seidrac uttered together. Scaroth clacked his jaws loudly, angered beyond belief at the creatures that had murdered his entire pod, and they gnashed back in a horrid mix of sounds.

Darcteis looked at all of them as they circled. "Maybe I can eat one of these..."

Ronon stuttered. "Uh...Scaroth? Just how many of these things were there when your pod was destroyed?"

Scaroth's eyes were dangerously bloodshot as he glanced back at Ronon. "There was only one that I could see...only one."

"That's impossible! These things must be fought against somehow!" Ecco exclaimed as he charged at the nearest one. The creature didn't even flinch as he hit it.

Ecco backed up from the recoil, wondering if his snout was broken...the creature's skin was that hard. All the reaction he received from the beast was a menacing grin.

"Ugh..." he groaned. "There's no way..."

Cariu growled as she witnessed the creatures, their malevolent actions betraying their intentions...as they circled, as if herding Ecco and the others, they moved closer in anticipation. The matriarch took a slow, deep breath at the surface, and suddenly a very low, long rumble of song erupted from her, which became much louder with distance and echoed from the floating icebergs.

Ronon glanced back. "Mother? What are you calling?"

Suddenly, more dark figures appeared from the shadows, this time in the form of Orca...many of them, of different ages, all of them strong and answering to the call of the matriarch. They were the pods that were governed under the various leaders. There was a growl and a gnashing of teeth from the strange green beasts as they themselves were now surrounded.

"Brilliant!" Seidrac exclaimed with a hint of glee.

The faces of the others were stern, though. "_Diricha Cariu_, there are five of those beasts...if our pods fought, they will all be destroyed," Scaroth said in a dark tone, though all knew he was trying to plead with the matriarch.

Cariu squinted her eyes. "There are still more of us. And with the great Ecco aiding, they will have a great force to reckon with. All of you, except for Seidrac and Biransa, will fight. Seidrac, you must tend to Biransa, she can't fight in her condition. Ecco, will you fight with us?"

"I will..." the dolphin confirmed.

Suddenly, the five creatures charged at the pod leaders, each one to their own. In response, the other Orca, counting up to more than thirty, joined in. Ecco backfinned, ready to choose a target, but his sight was already obscured with red.

The waves exploded with an impossible fury...over thirty Orcas making a giant pod, against only five of these beasts...and already they were starting to lose ground.

As the dolphin tried to get his bearings, suddenly all events seemed to freeze. His stars glowed brightly, and a familiar voice came to him. **_Ecco! My friend singer, can you hear me?_**

His eyes widened. "Asterite?"

**_Ah, there you are. Yes, it is I. I've no time to explain now, you must follow my instructions quickly. I will give you a powerful song, and you must use it as soon as I have taught it to you._**

"Yes, immediately! But...what will..."

**_Do not question me, Ecco!_** Suddenly, as the Asterite's strange voice died down, it was replaced by a simple sequence of notes, powerful enough to embed itself within Ecco's skull. When his eyes opened to the red ocean, out erupted a song more powerful than that sung by the great whales.

It immediately silenced everything and froze the battle. Orcas stopped fighting, and ceased dying for the moment. The strange creatures even seemed entranced by the song.

Finally, the last beautiful, ethereal notes seemed to die down, and the ocean was left silent for many moments, neither side wishing to charge first.

Then, the creatures started moving in again.

"Asterite!" Ecco called in the air as they surrounded some of the fallen warriors. "Asterite! What was this song supposed to do?"

Biransa suddenly turned to Ecco. "What was that name you spoke?"

Before Ecco could answer, suddenly there was a screech that rang the inner ears of the singers. One of the green beasts had been stung straight in the back. As the red cleared from the sea, the spear sticking through its back retracted, leaving the animal to float away in the waves.

The spear was a neat, long spiral tusk, belonging to a large spotted cetacean, a narwhal. Behind him, a large pod of his kind. Beside, another large pod belonging to the beluga.

At the sight of their dead comrade, the other beasts stopped their attacks and fled, leaving the ocean a battered, battle-scarred wasteland. Many Orca lay dead, others were injured. Thankfully, some were still left conscious.

"What was...?" Ecco glanced up at the Orca pods and the pods of other singers that accompanied them. As the great hunters gathered their own, Cariu swam forward, glancing back and forth at the podmasters of the beluga and narwhals.

"Well, greetings, fellow singers. What brings you here to the aid of Orca-kind?"

The narwhal podmaster, a strong brute, raised his head so his tusk looked like a lance held in salute. "We came answering a call from the great Ecco himself. The north seas have become broiled with unrest lately. We come upon his behalf...NOT those of the Orca," he retorted with a snort.

"Bro-aht, let me speak," the beluga podmaster answered. His skin was as white as any of the glaciers, so in fact that was his name. He bowed his melon. "I am Glacier, and we come on behalf of all singers. To answer a call from the great Ecco is truly an honor."

Ecco swam forward, bowing his own head, the stars glaring brightly. "And I thank you for your help as well. You were tremendously brave to come at my call." _Or the Asterite's call..._ Ecco thought. _I remember that as the song he used to summon my brother singers at the battle of Lunar Bay...I'm glad it worked so far here..._

When the pods left, and the Orcas were gathered in a safe place, they all counted their dead.

Only four leaders remained now...for Darcteis had succombed to his wounds, his pod leaderless. Cariu led the mourners in song, and Ecco sighed quietly. Ronon and Scaroth were injured...the two females were healthy enough to keep the males at the surface for their breaths.

Cariu smiled. "It is fortunate that many of us still survived. If it were not for the great Ecco, we surely would have perished." She turned to the dolphin and bowed. "I hope you can forgive us for doubting you."

Ecco nodded. "I can...but that song...it wasn't..."

"It was the Asterite, wasn't it?" Biransa cut in.

The other Orca stared at her and at Ecco with curiosity and questioning. Ecco nodded. "Yes...how did you know that?"

The female chuckled. "He sang to me in my sleep. He's only a legend to us...but he's real if the great Ecco sings his songs."

The vision then came back to Ecco once again, and this time it was heard by all the Orca as well. **_Well done, Ecco. All of you..._**


	9. Mission

Ecco smiled to himself as he swam with the Orcas, who didn't need to use sonar to find their way around the frozen labyrinth of the north seas. Led by the matriarch, the four pod leaders following closely behind like well-trained soldiers, and their pods swimming as one, the very glaciers that hindered their swimming now seemed to give way to this legion of proud, strong hunters.

Any seals that had been camped on those icebergs, any polar bears searching through holes in the ice, shuddered slightly as the familiar black and white messengers of the hunt traveled slowly beneath their feet, in the element more powerful than earth...water.

As with all new worlds, the frozen world was fascinating to Ecco. The Orcas seemed to own it. Even as he saw pods of narwhal and beluga pass by, heeding the danger that these pods provided, none dared make a move upon them.

It wasn't long before the massive pod came upon a frozen bay where they could rest, and each leader had their own errands. Members of Biransa's pod rested with her, constantly tending to her and the unborn calf she carried.

Seidrac dispatched her pod throughout the frozen beach, on the lookout for seals and anything else they could eat. Ronon's pod was led towards the open sea. They had volunteered to defend the pod should the vicious Orca-killers ever return...and they hunted for whales while they were at it.

Only Scaroth stayed at Cariu's side. No longer having a pod to command, he could do nothing else. Ecco swam with them, awaiting more messages from the Asterite. The remaining Orcas could also hear when he came again via Ecco's thoughts, displaying himself to the others as well. The vision in their minds was astounding, the mysterious entity of orbs coiled in a double-helix, full of vast wisdom.

**_An interesting journey it has turned out to be for you, my friend. You have questions, I assume._**

Cariu watched with curiosity as Ecco nodded. "Yes, so long as you are able to answer them, Asterite."

**_I shall do my best._**

"Very well..." Ecco started searching his mind for the questions that plagued him. "Why Orcas? It seems these things don't care to feast on anything but them."

**_Quite evident...my hunch was right, for one of them was easily vanquished by the narwhal. They don't seem very prepared for anything other than Orca. The Song of Calling proved useful._**

"Very useful...but it all makes no sense...nothing made sense ever since I ran into that warm cave upon arrival."

"'Warm cave'?" Cariu interrupted.

Scaroth scoffed. "Nothing 'warm' exists in this part of the world."

A short distance away, Ecco heard "_Diri Biransa_, are you sure you are able to swim?" Followed by a "Yes, do not worry about me. Tell the pod to join Ronon's group." Biransa appeared a moment later. "I heard everything...do not be so harsh, Scaroth. Stranger things have happened than a 'warm cave'...let Ecco explain himself."

As the brute calmed, Ecco sighed. "It may sound quite strange...but I was lured into a strange cave when I came here. It was warm inside, and very dark. It was also very long...before I knew it, I had escaped an illusion and arrived in a virtual paradise hidden in a frozen world. Then...something...spoke to me, told me that I was unwelcome, that Orca were merciless killing beasts, and they thrust me out. I thought it was a dream, but it was far too real."

Cariu tilted her head. "'They'? Who is 'they'?"

"The seers, they called themselves...they resembled whales."

Cariu looked thoughtful, as if something had been confirmed. Biransa's eyes widened, and Scaroth remained neutral but interested.

Then, the Asterite chimed in. **_Ecco, something has been bothering me...but when you sang for help, shouldn't whales have heard it too? The blues, the humpbacks, the bowheads, the grays...there should have been more than two different kinds of pods coming to your aid._**

Ecco clicked. "That's right! There should be whales here, even with the presence of so many Orca! Where are they?"

"Maybe those creatures prey on whales as well," Scaroth offered.

Ecco shook his head. "No...if I know whale-kind, they don't let anything stop them in their migrations. They should be here."

Biransa blew at the surface for a moment. "Maybe we're too early for them, or they're too late. It's happened before."

"Or maybe this strange paradise that our Ecco has found had something to do with it. 'Seers' that hate Orca-kind...creatures that only prey on Orca-kind..."

"Oh, be realistic! My apologies, _Diricha_, but this coincidence is far too impossible. The 'warm cave' is nothing but myth! Our pods have been everywhere in the north seas and have encountered no such thing!"

"Be open, Scaroth." Cariu replied simply. "Like I have said before, there is always a deception behind the obvious in these seas. Fools rush in where they don't think first. A tragic example that your pod has set for all of us."

Abashed, Scaroth clacked his jaw and looked away, saying nothing.

_You are an example, Ecco..._

**_Ecco..._** The Asterite's voice started in, interrupting the dolphin's sudden thoughts.

Suddenly, Ronon appeared, singing with urgency. His body was filled with gashes. "Mother! They're back! And there are three times as many as before!"


	10. Savior

The beasts appeared, two at a time from the shadows, as many as fifteen or twenty. Just as soon as Ronon had announced it, they appeared, teeth grinding, hungry for Orca flesh.

"_Chistak!_" Cariu cursed out loud. "Where is everyone else? I am no longer in any condition to fight..."

"Don't worry, _Diricha..._" Scaroth growled as he circled the matriarch, eyeing the smirking beasts, "I will protect you."

The other pod members that had survived the coming of the demons immediately rushed, only to see Biransa, Cariu, Ronon, Scaroth, and Ecco surrounded. "We can't hope to fight them..." some muttered, whilst others argued, "We must try!"

**_Ecco!_** Suddenly the Asterite's booming voice sang loud and clear in his head, **_The song!_**

Immediately, Ecco once again released a blast of song that echoed from every glacier and iceburg. The beasts screeched...some turned around to ravage a few of the other Orcas, red once again starting to cloud the waters and stain the beach.

He started to hear the songs of their helpers, the narwhal and beluga...but still beast and singer alike were testing their strengths and straining their jaws. When the narwhal charged in, still the beasts fought back, still going after only the Orca. Soon, every creature looked the same in the cloud of blood. Ecco was blinded.

**_Ecco, get ready! Gather as many singers as you can, I am going to create a void that will bring you to the warmer seas...hurry!_**

Ecco nodded without hesitation. "Cariu, Cariu!" he called out.

"I heard him, Ecco," Cariu appeared from a cloud of red water fog, "All of us did." She released a blast of song to the others. "All Orca that can and will, follow Ecco!"

Scaroth was one of the Orcas that converged on a creature. "I will not leave our home! You go, _Diricha,_ you must live!"

"So must you, Scaroth! Go!" Biransa charged in, ramming the brute in the back, toward Ecco and the void which had opened in the middle of the sea, a swirling vortex resembling a black hole.

Instantly, Ecco's vision darkened, and his stomach lurched as he was thrown through the void. His familiar songs mixed with foreign ones. Delphine curses and surprised cries emitted from his companions...who or whatever followed him as the waters on his skin turned warmer.

* * *

His eyes opened slowly, showing him a familiar scene: shelves of rock and coral lining the bottom of the ocean, fish swimming in vast schools and evading the dolphin that had appeared in their midst. The water was no longer cold, no longer supported large, crushing packs of ice and death.

As Ecco lingered at the surface, the Asterite's voice entered his consciousness again. **_Find me, Ecco. There is much to discover._**

Sighing, the dolphin looked around, and was able to count all that had followed him...only two Orca were found, along with one narwhal and one beluga.

The narwhal was the same leader that they had met earler. His tusk seemed quite intimidating, even when compared to the Orca.

"Gnrr...where are we? Why is the water so warm?" he asked somewhat gruffly.

Ecco took a breath as he answered. "We're far from the north waters...more towards my home. The Asterite brought us here."

"What!" Scaroth raged. "I shouldn't be here...where are those beasts? Where is Cariu? I should be protecting the matriarch and the pods..._Diricha Cariu_ is left back in the north seas where I should be..."

"Settle yourself, Scaroth." Biransa lightly slapped his snout with her fluke. "_Diricha_ has all the help of our pods and those of the narwhal and beluga. There are plenty there to make sure she lives."

The brute growled back at her. "And what of you, Biransa? Why did you push me through the void, you knew that I wanted to stay!"

The pregnant female seemed to stammer. "You are the last of your pod, Scaroth, and the matriarch's most powerful guardian. You have enough honor in your name to live, as I do."

"She will die!" he snapped.

"Then she will die with honor, protecting her pods!" she shot back.

"Enough, friends!" the beluga came between them, a dangerous maneuver. "We are here now, so we have a mission. We must find this Asterite of which everyone keeps speaking."

"I don't know, Glacier, I'd have liked to see them kill each other..."

"Quiet, Bro-aht." The beluga sighed and turned to Ecco. "What shall we do first?"

The dolphin suddenly stammered. "How about not moving?"

Following his gaze, the other singers faced one of the green Orca-killers. As the thing snarled, Scaroth and Bro-aht moved in front of the others, ready to charge it.

The didn't need to do anything, however. The thing spasmed and started to gasp, as if it was out of breath.

"That's right, they're weak in warm water..." Ecco whispered. That was all that the narwhal needed. Tusk drawn, he charged forward, piercing the creature in the heart as easily as a spear would penetrate skin.

Scaroth growled. "I still think we need to be where the fight still goes on..."

Ecco shook his head, the stars on his brow glowing once again with determination. "No. We find the Asterite. Then we rejoin the fight. It's better if we rejoin with knowledge of what we charge against."


	11. Key

It was a many-days swim before the group of cetaceans finally gathered their bearings. With the help of everyone's migratory knowledge, and Ecco's guidance from the Asterite, he found that they were quite close to where he called home, deep in the ocean trenches connecting Moray Abyss and the Deep Water Zone.

The trip wasn't easy, however. Though the strange beasts were left far behind them, more of the ocean's familiar dangers followed. Rogue singer pods that would kill for simple fun...hordes of sharks moving like a mindless, trained army...in a long time since the disappearance of the Vortex, the waves and all creatures in tune with it were at unrest.

Not to mention that at times, the Orca keeping companions with the group would have some trouble keeping their urges in check.

Bro-aht, the narwhal, had his tusk trained like a lance upon Scaroth as the brute snarled. "Cease pointing that dagger at me, or it will drift with your meatless bones to the ocean floor!"

"I will relinquish my 'dagger' if you stay your jaws, Sniper Singer. I can see it in your eyes that you long for our flesh," he retorted.

Ecco quickly came between the spear and the teeth. "Both of you, backfin from each other, now!"

Scaroth looked as if to charge the dolphin, but Biransa clacked her jaws. "Listen to the great Ecco. It is not far now, I can sense it," the mother-to-be sang softly. The large male calmed himself, and with the help of the beluga Glacier, so too did Bro-aht.

"Great Orca..." started Glacier, "If you long to feast, there are always fish and sharks to indulge."

The brute scoffed. "Small prey...a seal would do better."

Ecco smirked to himself as the others followed him with remote tension. _What a group we have...two warriors of different pods, a pregnant Orca, and a peacekeeper beluga, following a dolphin smaller than any of them. I wonder if the Asterite is ever surprised at such events. I'm surprised that I'm not._

The sun appeared to vanish behind the horizon, the last of it's life-giving, blinding light brilliantly shining upon the silver sea. The clouds took its light and painted it all colors, giving the west a brilliant coat that twilight dawn could never mirror. It was here, at such a calm hour, at dusk, that Ecco and his party found the edge of what the singers called Shadow's Canyon, a wide plain of large trenches and cracks in the earth that housed dangerous creatures. Here was the Moray Abyss, and far beyond was the entrance to Deep Water.

"Careful, all..." Ecco warned, "This place is guarded by a multitude of large beasts. I had to go through a giant moray eel once to start piecing the Asterite together again. It is here he rests."

"The dolphin knows not who he talks to. I'm sure we could handle anything," Scaroth retorted.

"And I'm sure we can't take many chances, Orca," Glacier retorted back.

With a deep breath for each, the pod descended into the dark depths of the trenches, using sonar as their guiding eyes. It wasn't long before Ecco felt the familiar presence of the great entity.

Lying in the center of the deepest trench, in a pool of water so pure with its energy that the singers could breathe upon entering it, was a giant mass of colored orbs swirling in a set pattern, a double-helix. As much a mystery as it is respected for its wisdom by singers, the Asterite finally appeared to them, and those who had not yet beheld him gaped in awe. Even Scaroth looked upon the form with interest.

**_Ecco, my friend...I am happy to hear your songs once again. Ah, and you've brought a small army with you as well..._** he chuckled.

Ecco laughed as he let the others introduce themselves, each bowing their heads respectively.

"_Diri_-Biransa."

"Scaroth," the other Orca said without using the title given to podleaders...he had no pod to lead anymore.

"Bro-aht of the West Iceburg."

"_Misu-_Glacier."

**_Aye, welcome to all of you. I assume again you have questions, Ecco?_**

"Again, you assume right. Why do you call us here? What have you to tell us about the situation at hand?"

The orbs seemed to spin slower as the Asterite began his tale. **_The seers spoke the truth to you, Ecco. Indeed you had stumbled upon their most ancient and secret paradise. It was long ago that a portion of land upon the planet was claimed by the ancient sea's rulers, the primitive whales. When the singers of land took the ocean, they eventually survived over the ancient rulers and the land was theirs. They developed their songs until they could command life itself in that one spot. They wanted to have as much peace in the oceans as possible, and their songs destroyed sadness and healed the wounded._**

It was inevitable. The planet was changing, and soon their land would too change. It moved to form a giant portion of ice to the poles, the north seas permanently freezing everything. The ancient whales never abandoned the land they called their own. Through the energies they commanded, they proceeded to save what was left of a land of warm and plenty, and singers were created to help protect it. They made all sorts of songs, to be sung by the different creatures that creation itself helped spawn.

But not everyone was destined to protect. Some pods were given the freedom to split away and be free for their own, given their own portion of the planet's energy...the first that were given their freedom had used it rashly, for power, and were so cursed by the seers and all other singers.

The rest were restricted, and given their freedoms. Their songs changed. But the whales did not change. They flourished, and though many kinds arrived, they all still sang the songs of legends.

However, the land could still not be kept from changing. The seers eventually sealed themselves in a seperate dimension, a seperate time to call their own, along with their world. Only a few whales were able to enter their long forgotten paradise...using a special song that they called the Keystone Song...only they could use it. The others would forever come to cold waters, only to never find their forgotten world again.

Time passed, and the whales that had kept the Keystone Song died...they taught the song to their children, but they could never sing it as well, and so they knew of paradise but never could enter it.

When the Keystone holders passed away, the seers and their land was hidden away forever...as long as they thought that one Keystone holder still lived, the world would be protected, as would their home.

But it was only until recently that the seers decided that the seas must once again belong to the true singers.

The Asterite silenced, and left this for the others to figure out. Biransa glanced between everyone, wondering if she should speak up, and finally decided to. "So...the first singers to abuse their powers...were Orcas."

Glacier nodded. "And the seers...created singers? So, those creatures..."

**_Correct. The seers created the beasts that hunger for Orca flesh. Their only purpose is to clear the seas of what they call abominations. Orcas are the first choice. After they are gone, their creations will mutate for purposes of going after the others until none are left. Then, whales are promised to see their paradise again._**

"Is that why none came to our aid?" Ecco asked. "But...I refuse to believe that the Great Singers themselves are malevolent like this."

**_It isn't the whales, Ecco. There is another force. The paradise of the seers must be opened for it to be revealed and the seas will have hope again. But, it is impossible._**

"How?" Ecco inquired. "All we must do is find one of the Keystone holders, right? Doesn't one still exist?"

The Asterite's globes wavered in a long sigh. **_No, Ecco. It was in the recent years, some time ago, that the last Keystone holder died. And now that he is gone, there doesn't seem to be a way to open the paradise again._**

Bro-aht shook his head. "There has to be a way. Ecco found a way in, so there should be a way to open the thing. Who was the last Keystone Singer anyway, maybe he has a descendant with the song."

**_He doesn't to my knowledge. The last Keystone holder died in the north seas. And it was Ecco who witnessed the death._**

Ecco's eyes widened and his breath stopped as all eyes turned to him. In a still pause, Ecco uttered in a song that stuttered and touched his very heart.

"Big Blue..."


	12. Lost

Bro-aht thrust his tusk against Ecco gently, commanding attention as they swam. "Well, what now, chosen one?" he mocked.

"Silence!" Glacier shouted. "Let him have his moment. This was a blow to him."

The pair of Orcas said nothing in the dolphin's defense as they left the Asterite's home, swimming level with the dark bottom of the ocean, yet not coming up for a breath. They simply kept the entity's word of luck with them, along with their newfound strengths.

All the help the Asterite could give the cetaceans that swam with Ecco was the same power that he had given Ecco...each could swim faster, use sonar in great blasts, and breathe without the aid of the surface...all in hopes that it would aid them further against the creatures.

Ecco, leading the way, stared ahead into darkness as blank as his own mind. All he could think about was the memory he had of the Big Blue's final minutes under the ice, the mournful song that he released when at last he left the world...the tears the dolphin shed as he took the whale's words with him in his search for his family.

_You surprise me even today, great one...you've helped me before...and all along you had hidden one of the greatest secrets of singer-kind. Is there no one that can help us now?_

"Ecco?" Biransa cut in the silence, interrupting the dolphin's train of thought. "Pardon me, but where are we going?"

The dolphin looked around the darkness of the deep waters. "I don't know...maybe we should...AAH!"

"Look out!" Scaroth shouted as the singers scattered, allowing a very large shadow to pass between them, leaving a torrent of water in its fast wake. "What was that?"

"Giant squid?" Glacier offered. "It gets quite dark here, I wonder if we're not in the creature's domain."

"It was bigger than squid," Bro-aht panted.

Ecco sent a blast of sonar down, then his eyes widened. "It's coming back!"

Almost at his word, the giant shadow turned as swiftly as it could toward the singers. Scaroth attempted to stay in place, and the narwhal faced the creature as he swam next to him.

A giant, narrow mouth opened, attempting to capture one of the singers. In a flash, Ecco rammed its head, throwing it off-course from its charge. A long blast of clicks and moans were a reply from the creature before it started to rise again.

As the singers sent their echoes above, staring in silence at the shadow, Glacier finally spoke up. "Not a giant squid, but certainly close. That, I believe, was song we heard."

"Ah, a meal..." Scaroth smirked.

Ecco rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's see." As a unit, the five cetaceans followed the massive wall of shadow, soon revealed as gray flesh to the sun. A light grunt was heard as the singers observed the creature blow at the surface, its great, square, scar and sucker lined jaw moving like a boulder.

"Sperm whale," Biransa chuckled. "I knew we shouldn't have lingered in the deep waters."

The creature's eye turned to face the small legion of singers that beheld it. With a small groan of song, the creature boomed with laughter. "Are you the ones that cost me my supper? I didn't know that Orcas could dive so far."

"We don't..." Scaroth muttered as Biransa chuckled.

The whale lingered at the surface as its eye continued to observe the others. "I've never seen one of you before..." he said to the narwhal. "And you are more pale than the bleached coral," he observed of the beluga.

Ecco swam in front of the eye, bowing his melon so that his stars shone. "I apologize on behalf of my friends, we did not know that you hunted near where the Asterite called home."

The whale smiled. "Ah yes, of course. I often dive both to eat, and to catch a little of the Asterite's tales of the sea. He has become a friend of mine. But tell me, why is such an unlikely pod here in these waters?" As he said "unlikely", the eye turned to gaze at the two Orcas.

"It's something of a long story," Ecco replied.

The whale laughed. "Then leave out the part about the seers and the arctic paradise, I know that tale. Tell me what the great Ecco, a tusked singer, a white singer, and two Orcas have to do with it."

The pod was surprised...the whale had overheard the Asterite's explanation. Ecco proceeded to tell his part of the adventure, and also let the others tell what they could as well. When the tale was over with, the whale chuckled heartily, letting the others swim alongside him as he started to sidle in the water.

"Something quite interesting, yes...I've heard rumors sung of these bloodthirsty creatures, but yet thought it was only fear that the seas would be overtaken again. The tale of the seers is well-known to my kind. As for my name, just call me Sawtooth. That's what the squid call me," he laughed.

Biransa swam ahead a little faster, weighed a little by her calf and full of need for exercise and curiosity. "Why is it that your kind knows of this secret? I thought only the whales with a sieve for a mouth sang of it."

"Well, little one," Sawtooth chuckled, "I have heard just as many stories of the sea as any of the Singers of the Craft, as we call them...we match their size and their knowledge, but we lack their ability to sing the tongue of the ancients. With help from the Asterite and pods upon pods of those whales, I even have memorized the Keystone Song."

This stopped Ecco dead. "You know the song, Sawtooth?"

The whale nodded his massive head. "Yes, but I can never sing it as well as they do. I haven't even dared to traverse those fearfully icy waters to find this...this paradise of yours."

"Good, you're useless, we can eat you now," Scaroth smirked as his jaws bumped against Sawtooth's flank, but the whale simply laughed.

"I fear no Orcas. Even if a pod tried to overtake me, I would dive and lose them, for they can never follow me. You are admirable, warrior Orca, but you and a pregnant female are no pod to be feared," he laughed again.

Ecco rolled his eyes. "Only a sperm whale can sing with half the wisdom of other whales and half the lust for jokes as the dolphins..."

Suddenly, the whale stopped, and his eyes pivoted to search around him. A few clicks were sent out into the misty ocean gloom. "Little ones...what is the thing that approaches us?"

The cetaceans turned to where Sawtooth was referring. "Oh no..." Bro-aht muttered.

Scaroth snarled as one of the green beasts sidled near, grinding its jaws...and not weakening. "It followed us!"


	13. Gods

Cariu cringed upon hearing it again, for the hundredth time that day: a piercing howl of death that seemed to grind through the minds of Singers and make them deaf to their own. Even from where she was, foul blood could still be tasted in the water, sounds of battle could be sensed from beyond the massive walls of ice.

During the battle, she had ordered the retreat of the Orca, whilst their allies of narwhal and beluga agreed with much difficulty to battle the killers that came to be known as Seer-Beasts...to the dismay of those devoted to the legend. Another songless screech echoed through the very ice stones, telling the Orcas trapped safely in their chambers that another Seer-Beast heart had been pierced by narwhal ivory.

Their safe haven was in a giant iceburg which had gained a giant chamber on the inside after years of weathering away from a fishing hole in the land above. Thankful to the knowledge of the north waters that the matriarch kept, she had led them there, and even now the place was a sheltered and armored ball of crystal and cold with but a single spot in the ice that led to the surface and precious air above.

Many of the warriors of different pods were snarling to themselves and to each other, the word "cowardice" passed around continually. They wanted to stay and fight for the safety and dignity of their kind, whilst others knew the truth in living to fight another day.

Seidrac was only one of the few that hung in the middle. She lamented silently. "My poor pod...my greatest hunters were mutilated and destroyed, and what am I doing? Hiding!" She chanted the word over and over like a curse until she was hushed by the members of her pod that were left with her, with calm whispers of reassurance to give armor to her tears.

As Cariu looked around the group that she had gathered into safety, she saw the extent of their conditions. Many hung in utter silence and thought, their injuries making their bodies spasm upon moving. Others, young and old, kept to the injured with great haste, using their energy for healing...not killing.

Out of her eye, she also noticed her son. Ronon kept his gaze to the shifting light in the ice walls, thoughts moving in and out of his mind, their presence betrayed by his eyes as he caught his mother's gaze. "Something has been bothering me since the beginning of this..." he said, hushing the whispers of the large pod, somehow gaining each individual's attention. "Were the Seers really the ones that gave the power of song to us?"

The matriarch hummed. "That is what the legend speaks. But never before have I believed in legend, for stories have a way of making others chase a false promise. I sing, and think nothing more of how."

Seidrac sighed. "I was always taught that song was simply ours to begin with. It wasn't a gift, a promise, nothing like that...we always had it."

Reaching for a breath, all Cariu could do was wonder about the extent of it all. _Ecco, friends, I hope and pray for safety upon your fins._

* * *

Scaroth lunged at the creature, blood as always boiled and ready for war. His eyes shone the lust of the kill, though not for food but for vengeance. The Seer-Beast that had trespassed in warm waters and had not been harmed only grinded its teeth, producing a sound that had no trace of song in it. Turning and moving out of the way of the barreling Orca, its gaze turned upon Ecco.

The dolphin chirped and charged as well...to his surprise, the creature's fluke dealt him a blow that knocked him harmlessly away like one flicking away a pebble. Stunned, dazed, Ecco was surprised at how a charge powerful enough to break through stone had no effect.

The beluga Glacier turned to his narwhal ally Bro-aht. "Brother singer, aren't you going to help our Orca brother?"

Bro-aht sliced his tusk through empty water as he smirked. "Oh, I'll help alright...I'll dispatch of that beast, then _help_ that demon dolphin with his death."

As he charged forth, Glacier called after him. "Will you let go of your prejudice just once? You're going to have us killed, if not by that beast then by a vengeful Orca!"

Biransa watched from behind the giant Sawtooth, half anxious to join the fight and half wanting safety for her unborn. "I'm sure you have our immunity for the moment, Glacier, it's that thing you have to worry about."

Sawtooth's eyes rolled as he edged closer to the battle. "Can someone please tell me what that thing is?" the sperm whale inquired.

Ecco shook his head, freeing him from his daze. "We believe they were dispatched by the Seers to rid the waters of all singers who aren't whales...that is to say, the ones without teeth."

The whale's eyes widened. "_That_ thing? Hah! Couldn't be." With confused eyes, the others let the whale move forward with a good amount of speed, releasing a blast of sonar that stunned the beast and made it spasm. A few octaves higher went Sawtooth's voice, and the creature screamed in pain, left stunned and bleeding from its inner ears upon the surface.

Sawtooth turned around slowly, laughing at the surprised looks on his comrades' eyes. "I've seen a few of those around here, but they're easy to take care of. Just gotta know how to get above that racket that they call speaking." He laughed. "If the Seers are what I'm thinking they are, then they couldn't possibly have created creatures without song."

Scaroth stared for a moment, then laughed. "Okay...maybe I'll save the eating him for after this is all over..."

Bro-aht thrust his tusk lightly but threateningly against the Orca's flank. "Watch it, sniper, else you'll not be able to eat anything..."

Biransa cut through the angered males as they started swimming again, pausing by Ecco's side. "So, what do you know of the Seers, Sawtooth?"

Ecco nodded. "Yes, tell us."

The whale seemed to shrug with his fins as he rose for a breath, his great square jaw opening and closing again. "I know only what my family knows about these so-called Seers...that they created singer-kind and they live in a paradise of indescribable beauty, a place that was for the gods' chosen ones alone.

"They blessed the sea and its most intelligent creatures with song and left it at that...whatever life arose from notes passed through the ages, whatever each raced used its crescendo for, it was their choice. The Keystone Song, as far as my kind knows, is but only a song...a song that when understood by the great ancient whales tells of paradise. Only the gods could open the gates...only ones with their influence could enter without singing."

Ecco thought for a moment, back to his experience with the Seers. "So, there's a way to go in without using the Keystone Song?"

The whale nodded. "Like I said, only individuals with the influence of the gods could do so, even if they know not how."

"Then how could I have..." the dolphin started, then silenced himself. Ecco's head lowered briefly, letting the stars adorning his head shine against the light of the sun's glare. As the comrades took eye upon the dolphin's markings, the mark of Delphineus, each of them smiled one by one.

"Then perhaps there is a way..." Glacier muttered.


	14. Birth

The Arctic waters were alive more than ever before...but not with the true life that it had always boasted for centuries. Songs were reduced to hums and echoes of their former selves, giving rise to the harsh gnashing teeth that were the Seer-Beast ways of communication.

Cariu led what was left of the pods that she commanded, along with a fleet of injured beluga and narwhal, through the thick pack ice near the North Pole's equivalent to a beach. All around them the predominant color was white. The sea was an illusion, taken by the glare of the sun and the deep black trenches where lived nothing.

Thin trails of blood hid behind the injured and the maimed...for the creatures had become too numerous to fight against any longer. Regretfully, the matriarch ordered a retreat.

Now, through the thick walls of the icebergs, they could still hear the creatures searching for the meat that they were commanded to kill. The further the singers tried going, the more they could hear the Seer Beasts, as if they were hunting, listening, waiting.

Tensions were rising among the great pod as well. The Orcas had nothing suitable to hunt for days, and often reverted to killing their allies. The narwhal and beluga sang against the Orca, even out loud as they sang with them and nobody could take it any more. Their alliance, forged only through their allegiance to the great Ecco, was falling apart piece by piece. None of the Orca wanted to fight any more...even the bravest, hardwired for honor, wanted to run.

Ronon growled to himself as he led his pod members with everyone else. "_Chistak..._ they aren't about to give up, are they? The beasts won't stop until they've consumed as much Orca blood as there is left on the planet!"

"We must make do with these ice shields, Ronon, as much as we can..." Seidrac replied, "Until Ecco returns with help, we don't have any choice."

Cariu kept quiet throughout, the matriarch faltering with thought and starting to show her age. Her time was almost near, and if this threat could not be solved and a new matriarch chosen to lead, all was lost for her race.

Suddenly, a light shone from one corner of the iceberg where the water met the ice. What it was, the singers could only guess.

* * *

Biransa paced the bay in circles, swimming and barrel-rolling almost lazily, though the look in her eyes gave away her pain. The female flinched as another spasm rocked her nerves and made the calf inside kick impatiently.

Ecco and the others had stopped to rest, at the edge of a small island beach. Further out to sea was a deep-water trench, where Sawtooth was busy diving. The others could hear the massive whale sound as he moved like the trained diver he was.

Scaroth was off by himself, deep in thought and impatience, his only worry for the safety of _Diricha_ Cariu and the others. For all he feared, the creatures had already killed everyone else off. Glacier and Bro-aht were sparring nearby; play fighting almost like calves, though the narwhal nearly gouged his comrade once or twice.

Ecco too was by himself, keeping an eye on the others. With a sigh, he wondered what his allies had in mind for him. Even during his battles with the Vortex and the Foe, the dolphin never thought that the star markings on his head were of any importance. Just because they matched Delphineus...

But it could have been true...how else to explain how he was able to find the ancient paradise of the Seers without the Keystone Song? Only by the will of the gods and their chosen, Sawtooth had said.

Suddenly, a shrill Orca screech pierced the quiet. Ecco shook with surprise upon having harshly been taken from his thoughts. Glacier and Bro-aht stopped what they were doing, and Scaroth glanced up to the disturbance. It was Biransa, enduring yet another contraction. "Augh...not now! I was hoping it would be born after we returned to the north...waters...AH!" she growled.

Ecco was the first to race to the female's side, his eyes widened. "Biransa, easy! Grit your teeth, try to calm down!"

Glacier swam on her other side, a safe distance away from the distressed female's teeth. "Interesting...I have never witnessed an Orca birth..."

Bro-aht stayed further away, tilting his head. "Another killer in the world..." he muttered.

As Biransa rounded again, she snarled at the cetaceans closest to her. "Back away from me, NOW! Grah!" she groaned as she started pushing. The tiny, weak flukes of the calf were already in sight.

The cycle went on for nearly an hour, the singers plenty occupied with trying to help the female, trying to keep to the surface and control her breathing. Neither Ecco nor Glacier had the strength to keep her large body from sinking as she kept pushing. When the both of them tried helping, she merely snapped her jaws and kept them away.

All the while, Scaroth stayed away, seemingly careless of Biransa's plight. His eyes kept trained upon her, however, as the usually wise mother turned angry and destructive as she fought to expel what was giving her so much pain. After a moment, even Bro-aht started to try helping.

The calf was only halfway out now, the hardest part of the birth. Biransa's eyes were sealed shut to the world around her, mind completely focused on her life's duty, and she fought to stay near the surface as the child awaited its new fate. Her body started sinking faster underwater, and the mother strained harder and harder for air. Try as the others could, Biransa shunned their help and she sank faster and pushed less, nearly giving up the fight.

Who knew what drove the arrogant Scaroth to the scene then...but the brute pushed Ecco and the others out of the way, warning them to stay away as he dove under Biransa and used his strength to get her back to the surface. Renewed with air, she fought once more with her strength. The singers watched, eagerly waiting and wondering, awed by the amount of dedication the two killers had...just as any species had to a birth.

Suddenly, Biransa and Scaroth were partially surrounded by a cloud of blood. Nobody could see what was happening, and they dared not swim forth to find out until the blood cleared.

What they finally saw was Biransa, still supported by Scaroth, nosing a little black and gray ball of flesh to the surface and holding it there for a few moments as it took its first breath. The baby was pure and scarless, untouched as of yet by the real world.

Ecco and Glacier smiled, and even Bro-aht looked a little relieved and interested in this event. After a couple of moments, Scaroth let Biransa from his back, tilting his head at the child as it swam with a pokey gait. It blinked its little black eyes, regarding the group of creatures with quickly developing curiosity before gently bumping Biransa's side. Chirps could be heard as it cried for milk.

Ecco watched for a moment before calling out. "Biransa, are you alright?"

The female smiled, all traces of burden lifted from her face, replaced with exhausted pride. "Yes, Ecco, thank you."

Scaroth chuckled, the first laugh he had ever given since he had met Ecco and the others watching as the baby lazily swam in its mother's slipstream. It was protected by her bulk, expressing a little worry at the other un-Orca-like creatures examining it nearby.

Biransa laughed as well. "I don't think he likes his godfathers."

Bro-aht's eyes widened with a bit of surprise. "Bah, godfather to an Orca. Even in my dreams I'd never see that."

"Neither would I..." Scaroth muttered as he kept his eye on the child, remembering days now long past when he still had his mate and watched his own son born. Biransa noticed Scaroth's look, and smiled as a thought came to her.

"Scaroth, what was your son's name?"

Ecco watched Scaroth's reaction, which was simply mere sadness, as he too remembered the Orca child that had died next to him as he gave the warning of the Seer-Beasts. "His name was Niemas..." he sighed.

The baby chirped as it heard the name. "_Niemas..._the name means 'martyr'." Biransa observed.

Scaroth nodded. "I named him, after his mother died giving birth. He barely survived...but he was strong."

Biransa smiled. "A perfect name. Niemas is what I will call my son."

Scaroth's eyes widened. "What honor has he yet to be called after my son?"

The female only nuzzled the calf as she replied. "Your honor, really. It's the only thanks I can give you for helping me through my birth, Scaroth. If any Orca deserves a godfather role, it is you."

The brute only turned his head, hiding a smile. Ecco and the others laughed softly as they beheld the calf. "Well, welcome to the world, Niemas."

At that moment, Sawtooth arrived, the skin on his snout filled with newly placed suckers from the tentacles of a giant squid. His giant eye rolled down to the others, and noticing the little black speck next to Biransa. "Ah, is he yours? Congratulations, I only wish I were here to help you."

The mother was about to respond when a long call erupted from where the open waters met the bay. The song was deep, its echoes piercing through the hearts of all present, though it couldn't be understood. Only Ecco remembered the song. "A Seer!" he gasped.


	15. Capture

The light flashed again. This was the tenth time exactly that a strange glare from beneath the ice had come to Cariu's attention.

She hadn't expected the path through the icebergs to be so long and winding, almost as if it had been carved by something. Though the harsh sounds of the Seer-Beasts had died behind the mega-pod of Orca, beluga and narwhal, a new feeling of foreboding came from the constantly flashing lights from the darkness of the deep ocean...so dark in contrast with the white glare of the sun on the ice around them.

Ronon quietly chirped for attention. "Mother, I believe we can all rest now."

"Yes, I don't hear anything..." Seidrac whispered her agreement as she swam idly behind the other two, keeping an eye on the members of her own pod that were still alive.

Cariu glanced around, peeking her head out from under the icebergs. The Seer-Beasts seemed long gone behind them, but with their luck they could be back.

"We shall go out...but not all at once," the matriarch finally decided. One by one and two by two, led by their leaders, the pods swam from under the winding trail of ice and into the dark waters, searching in earnest and fear for the lights that kept distracting them.

But once they were all finally out into a clear area, the glare once again came to Cariu's eye, and she swiveled, looking for it. What she saw made her gasp in surprise. "How did two whales slip by without our notice?" She demanded.

The whales were glaring nearly as white as the ice. Their eyes swiveled to catch sight of the Orcas.

There was a flash...cries of "I'm blind!" filled the water...

* * *

The song that Ecco had recognized as that of a Seer crept ever closer. Biransa kept her calf beside her, the young Niemas becoming just a little frightened at all of this activity and at the sight of the gargantuan sperm whale.

"Seer? Are you serious, Ecco?" the mother asked. There was a coupled sneer from both Scaroth and Bro-aht in skepticism, but still they kept their guard. Glacier swam out from the group, curiously singing back. The songs were indeed in the tongue of the ancient whales, and just for the luck, it seemed none of them could understand it.

_Definitely a Seer..._ Ecco thought as a sudden flash near blinded him from nearby.

It swam as if materializing from the darkness. A whale just as large as a Blue, skin whiter than the clouds, a mystic glow surrounding it but slowly flickering and fading away. Ecco swam in front of everyone else in defense, for now the arrogant warriors in Scaroth and Bro-aht were frozen stiff with disbelief. These were the creatures that had sent the Seer-Beasts...weren't they?

The great whale stopped as it stared at a living barrier of little singers, especially with caution at the two killer whales that accompanied them. Its notes were low and mournful, but with a hint of relief at having found Ecco and the others.

After a moment of listening, Glacier whispered, "Ecco, can you make anything out of the song?"

The dolphin shook his head. "No...this is the most ancient whalesong, I can't understand it."

"He's saying that he is glad to have come upon us, for there is something wrong," Sawtooth suddenly interrupted. The others stared at him questioningly, which made him chuckle. "I can understand a little of ancient whalesong, remember? The Keystone Song?"

When the whale started singing again, Sawtooth translated for them. "I am sure you have many questions of me, as well as all of the other Seers. We should not be out of our paradise, but we were forced. The creator of the beasts that hunger for singer flesh has lost the pod of the north waters, and therefore has resorted to dispatching us to search for them. We Seers have nothing for us in your world, and a few of us have already died whilst swimming in these waters, for our age and immortality have nothing here."

Scaroth snarled as he swam protectively in front of Biransa and her calf. "So you've found us, knowing that I and the other Orca pod leader were here. You're not going to capture us!"

"Hold on," Ecco gently interrupted the brute. "He said 'the creator of the beasts'...the Seers aren't responsible for them...and if they aren't, then who is? Ask him that," he said to the sperm whale.

Both inquiries were asked of the Seer, and Sawtooth translated his response. "I haven't come to capture you, friends...I am here to warn you, for you are the ones in league with the great Ecco, the chosen one of the gods.

"Without us, our paradise is threatening to open once more...but with malevolent control, not with peaceful control. If this happens, the world's oceans will be consumed. Only now have we realized this. I have tried finding you by sensing the powers of immortality flowing through your veins. Ecco has it, and so do the rest of you, but it is not strong enough.

"I would have lost you if I had not sensed just now what hasn't been sensed for thousands of years since we Seers came into being: the birth of an immortal. It has led me here."

Everyone gasped in surprise as they looked down upon the newborn Niemas, who was gently leaning against his mother. "I--Immortal?" she stammered. "But, my son can't possibly be..."

"It's possible, Biransa," Ecco said, "You were close to giving birth when the Asterite gave all of you the same powers I have in order to fight. Niemas must have gotten the same powers through you."

Sawtooth started translating for the whale again. "No matter how immortality is gained, the immediate birth of one has not been achieved, ever, until now." The whale paused, almost as if gasping in pain. "My time is about nigh...but I can immediately transport you back to the north waters to face my brothers in paradise."

Scaroth growled. "No, not yet! I am not going to allow taking a newborn calf with us, immortal or not, into battle against those fiends!"

"You have no choice," the Seer replied via Sawtooth, "The Seers can no longer hold our paradise at bay. Only five immortals led by the one chosen by the gods and a holder of the Keystone Song can penetrate and free it."

Sawtooth shook his head in reply. "But I can't sing it that well!"

"And Niemas is only a baby, he can't fight or sing yet!" Biransa added as she sheltered the calf beneath a pectoral fin.

The whale sang again, but its last few lines were cut off as a large, swirling vortex of light started to engulf the entire group.

All Sawtooth could make out was, "No choice...good luck...immortal...chosen ones..." The last words of a dying Seer.

* * *

The shock of hard, cold ice immediately touched Ecco's skin as he was thrust from the vortex. No longer did colorful coral beds dominate his vision, but instead the familiar sight of lifeless white glaciers and blocks of cold.

He heard the others as they regained their composures as well. Biransa immediately located her calf and stayed next to him, keeping him warm and safe as he chirped with fear at his new surroundings.

Sawtooth looked around curiously. "So this is the north waters...just as true as the stories..."

Ecco sighed. "Well, no sense in swimming idly. Let's find the pods. I hope they are still alive..."

But as they started for the ice, Scaroth halted and listened. "I can hear _Diricha_-Cariu!" he exclaimed and raced towards where he heard songs of pain and fear, the others close behind him.

When they found the matriarch, she was weakly trying to stay at the surface, her pectoral fins and chin bleeding almost heavily. As she was supported by Scaroth, she muttered as her eyes closed in rest, "The Seers..."

"What about the Seers?" Bro-aht demanded. "What happened, where are our pods?"

Cariu opened her eyes again. "Captured...they've been captured..."


	16. Gate

A story was told in a grave song, to six grave listeners and a born immortal. The north waters seemed colder than before as night started to fall. Stars were beginning to make a band of jewels across the sky, the colors of what sunlight ever touched that part of the world fading fast and making way for the ebon night. A moon, full and bright as it gazed upon the earth with its own light like an eye, hung silently among the flickering stars.

The constellation Delphineus could barely be picked out from the billions of small lights that covered the vast beyond of space, but little Niemas seemed almost entranced at his first ever sight of night.

The matriarch Cariu was struggling as she finished her story. "The Seers...they came, and I escaped...but the others, my son...they were taken, imprisoned...then the Seer-Beasts, they came to ensure my death...I fear for the lives of the others..."

Biransa interrupted her with a silent hush. "_Diricha_, do not speak. We are here now. All of us, including Ecco."

Cariu's eyes widened with urgency. "Ecco...must follow them, save...my..."

"We said rest, now rest, you hear?" Scaroth interrupted as he let Cariu from his back in support. "We'll take care of the Seers and find everyone."

Ecco nodded. "We promise."

Bro-aht scoffed, then chuckled. "Great...I'm going to die helping an Orca."

"An Orca and the great Ecco," Glacier corrected before Scaroth could retort. The narwhal shrugged his flukes as he started to follow Ecco's path, helping him sing out for any stragglers.

Biransa lagged behind as she gently pushed her calf, leading him as well. Her heart was pounding furiously as she searched Niemas's eyes for any trace of the fear they felt...but he was new to the world, naive. There was no fear in his eyes. Would this be the last time that she would ever see those eyes? His fate only to die just like his namesake?

_An immortal martyr..._ the mother thought to herself as Cariu was left behind in the safety of the iceburgs to heal from her wounds. Scaroth swam beside Biransa as she rejoined the group.

"So, where do we start looking for them?" he asked Ecco.

The dolphin's song was rushed as he frantically searched for any clues. "My only guess is that the Seers have them imprisoned in their hidden paradise. But...but I don't know where it is any more..."

Glacier hummed. "Do you remember what the waters looked like?"

"There was less ice and more gray lifeless stone, that is what I remember...and there was the cave of warmth...but what place like that exists in a world where the waters are frozen?"

Sawtooth swam beneath the smaller singers so that his large bulk wouldn't be cut on the icebergs that they passed. "We just search and see. Surely there is a way."

"Bah..." Scaroth growled, "This is hopeless! Ecco can't find his cave of warmth, and the last Keystone Song holder is long dead, its memories only kept alive by a sperm whale that knows how to speak ancient whale."

"Faith, Scaroth, faith..." Biransa whispered.

The search went on for what seemed like hours, but all that was found was more ice. The entire waters were a labyrinth, and the feeling of moving in circles soon clouded their song's vision. Little Niemas often chirped with boredom and complaints of the cold with only his mother's bulk and milk for warmth.

Ecco sighed and stopped, about to give up. Perhaps the Seers had hidden their paradise somewhere else...but he suddenly chirped in surprise as a vision siezed his mind.

The vision was a key...showing an area where the deep waters meet the great ice beach, a line of shadow and darkness that stood out from the rest. From where this vision came, he knew not...but had the feeling that it could be trusted. "I know where it is!" he suddenly shouted, though he probably only had as much of an idea as the others.

"Finally..." Scaroth and Bro-aht both muttered. Biransa gulped as she kept her child next to her protectively, wondering what part a newborn Orca calf would play in all of this.

Try as he could for yet another hour, Ecco could not find the place where his visions led. His comrades were getting restless and tensions filled the waters. Then, an unfamiliar voice caught him off-guard. **_Illusion once again grips your mind, Ecco...the one chosen and marked by the gods...for you are the savior..._**

"Savior..." he muttered as the others stared at him in questioning. "Wait...Illusion, again? Who are you?" he asked the air.

**_Through the Asterite's power he has allowed me to speak to you from the realm of paradise...to remind you not to think harshly of the Seers, creators of Singers._**

Only one story from the invader is true...I am among a kind that was created long ago, different from the ancient comb-tooth whales. I was the first to let powers to awry, the first to be punished, and so my kind pays that price. Like the Seers I am immortal. Like my kind now I am imprisoned among others. I am here to guide you and the keeper of the Keystone Song to the gates, and at least repent for the sin that made my kind go through what they do now...hatred by all other singers.

Ecco's eyes widened as he remembered the story of the origin of other singers, and the tale of how their power was misused. The others gasped silently among themselves, for they have heard the story too. "It cannot be...you're the first Orca?"

**_I am, and I have no time left...the last of the Seers is dead, and their paradise is soon to open to the world and spread from it the malice that now controls it. The gate will appear...beware of the illusion, for it is simply invisible...enter through my instructions..._**

Ecco listened gravely to the immortal Orca's disembodied voice as it rang through his head from inside the home of the Seers. Everything he knew to open the gates was revealed. And his face registered shock, but knew what had to be done.

"Everyone, follow me, now..." he commanded to his group as they made their way into a gray portion of the ice waters.

As they found the entrance, a chasm billowing with warm water, Ecco called out. "To our guide, thank you! But who are you?"

**_You will find me in paradise...the Asterite will be out of your reach as soon as you enter, and therefore so shall I until we meet..._**the voice faded into obscurity.

Glacier and the others simply swam idle to the entrance as it seemed to open further, the warmth now almost encompassing them. "Well, what do we do now?" the beluga asked.

A look of determination came to Ecco's eyes. "I will go in alone, only I can withstand the illusions inside. When you are told, Sawtooth, sing the Keystone Song as best you can so the others can enter."

Nothing more was said of the others. They heeded Ecco's instructions, and with a deep sigh, he started in through the darkness...


	17. Invader

_This certainly feels familiar..._ Ecco thought to himself as he slowly navigated through the crevice. Once again the ice waters of the north were gone, the warmth of the strange darkness enveloping and replacing it. The warmth felt closer than before, almost as if he was part of a pod that huddled together on cold nights. It was almost comforting.

Almost.

His thoughts rang with voices and songs...songs he's heard for so many years, on so many journeys. Atlantis gave him their technology...the Asterite gave him strength...too many memories, too many voices.

Recently, those voices were overshadowed by what started it all, the dying song of an Orca calf. And the Big Blue...the last true Keystone Song keeper. Would Sawtooth, having not but the size of the great whales, be able to open the gates of Paradise?

The illusions came back to Ecco, just as real as they felt. His sonar gave him threatening shapes...gigantic jaws, crushing tentacles, horrid death glares from giant moray eels...the mind tricks that served as sentinels were all passed by the dedicated singer. The stars on his head glowed faintly, proof that would be all that was needed of the god-chosen.

Then...sunlight! Blinding his eyes the moment he passed through what seemed like solid rock. His eyes had the need to recover, the pupils rapidly shrinking to minimize the light. Disoriented, the dolphin expected to see what he had beheld before: colorful coral beds, plentiful life, land and water that held the secret of perpetual warmth.

But when his eyes readjusted, it was suddenly dark again...and what he saw was nothing like paradise.

The sky carried colors of coal and flame, with bands of indigo and mauve that criss-crossed unnaturally through the clouds. The sun was nowhere to be seen...the colors themselves were sources of light, shadowing all with bands that the Earth's sky should never see.

As if to come down from the sky, the land was covered. Ecco could see trees, rocks, grass...everything was gray. Covering the forms of life were miles upon miles of pulsating black veins. Ecco could see through them, the blood of life moving via an unseen beating force as the branched weblike course drained the energy from everything they touched. Finally, the veins ended broadly upon the beach, pouring the blood of the land in gallons upon gallons of liquid life force, turning the sea all colors of the shifting sun, unnatural and poisoning.

Ecco's eyes were widened upon the horrid sight as he swam through the once plentiful bay, the only source of comfort being the perpetual warmth that Paradise once carried. His voice was still, afraid of what he might call if he sang outward.

"Ah, there you are," a strong song seemed to resonate towards him...strong so that it filled his mind as well as his inner ears. Ecco turned toward the source, which was floating in a giant dome of clear water that the veins didn't touch.

It was indeed an Orca, as he had told Ecco. A little larger than the largest warrior that the dolphin had ever seen, he had an air about him that signaled danger and yet wisdom from being carried with the Seers for so long. The eyespots hung around his eyes, ovals of white just covering over them. From his left eye, a large scar hung down from his blowhole down to just below his mouth, along with other smaller marks that seemed to criss-cross his flank. He was indeed once a fierce warrior by his looks.

"Ecco," he sang out, "The Seers would have all been glad at your presence now, but sadly they have died."

"I know," the dolphin sighed, hiding back faint tears as he beheld the first Orca, trapped in the dome. "Who are you, and is there a way I can help you out of there?"

The Orca regarded him with a half-blind gaze. "No, there is no way for you to help. It is the Keystone Song, once again ready to open the gates, which will free me." There was a silence, as if the Orca had to think about his name for a moment. "I am Okura."

"Okura..." Ecco repeated, having felt that he had to remember his name. The sight of his surroundings however reminded the dolphin that he was on a mission and released him from the honor of swimming before an ancient immortal. "What has happened here?"

Okura smiled lightly. "I know you seek answers, Ecco...and I will provide them if it is but small payment for the sins of my kind.

"The Seers...they were blind to the dangers of their actions. Their own creations betrayed them, and paradise was in peril. When I was to live in their world, my pod's song long since lost in time...I saw it planted, a seed of negativity and hatred sown by their children, the whales, for their despise of the toothed ones and killers that belonged to them.

"It was a seed that had no tangible form, it just lay hidden. Awakened by the Keystone Song, it held the power of all singers.

"Then one day long ago, a strange rock fell from space and landed in the middle of the paradise in the form of a black crystal, like a black glyph, which contained alien technology. I saw it and watched, wondered, waited...

"Then, when humans started to rise, the Seers had suddenly changed their minds to a new goal, as if possessed. They were beguiled to close their Paradise and freeze the north waters, casting away the whales whose songs so graced it. Only few that had the strange song that it liked could pass...

"Then the last one died, and by then it had taken hold of the Seer's powers...I didn't realize until it was too late that the creation of its beasts...the veins it spread over the course of two days over our Paradise...it was all part of an alien plot to turn the energies of the planet Earth against it...using the tangible seed of hatred that the Seers owned."

Ecco's stars burned with rage. "Alien plot...like the Vortex? Or the Foe?"

Okura shook his head. "Not like either...though perhaps related. I know not. It hadn't the energy we felt of the Vortex before, hadn't the same connection of survival linked to water."

Ecco tilted his head. "And how do you know all of this?"

With a sigh, the Orca hummed. "It told me in my dreams. When arctic pods from outside were brought here."

That made Ecco gasp as he glanced in all directions, the dark water barring his line of sight. "Where are they?" he demanded.

"I can take you," Okura started, "You cannot pass through the barrier alone, the army of beasts that the invader commands will surely overwhelm you. But they avoid me...if only I am freed."

"The Keystone Song!" Ecco exclaimed as he started back toward where he first came in, intending to take the message to Sawtooth. Okura watched as the dolphin sped toward the rocks...and slammed into them.

"Ow!" Ecco squeaked. "Ugh, I thought the exit was here..."

That was when the rock wall started to pulsate black as the veins covering the land. Then, he shrieked as something painfully seized his mind, just like before.

_You go nowhere, little Chosen of Delphineus._


	18. Dead

His head...his body...the waters touching his skin...everything seemed to cringe. Even the lifeless remains of the trees and the souless, ageless rocks adorning the shores were shaking from the malevolence corrupting them.

The entity that drained life from the Paradise had a voice. It wasn't a Seer. It wasn't dolphin, porpoise, or whale. Only they could sing. This thing...

It screeched. It moaned. It roared. Every excruciating sound ever thought of was in its voice. That's what gripped Ecco's mind as he heard its words again.

His eyes opened slowly to glance at Okura, the immortal whose orb of imprisonment saved him from the noises and the sights. The waters around him were pure and untouched.

Delphineus, how Ecco envied him.

_The power of song is vastly overrated, little Chosen. The Seers themselves on their dying breaths saw the truth. You use it as your seeing eye in the darkness, but even then we found away around it. _

In our illusions, songs betray and are revealed for what they really are. Hunters know this...they who use songs against songs to paralyze and confuse. There are weaknesses to your ballads.

A song is the key to your paradise. The key is ours. Sing to mourn, and not to live!

Ecco screeched as the voice seemed to throw his mind into a torrent of misery and pain. The veins criss-crossing the islands and diving into the sea pulsed faster and faster in their efforts to feed the alien power.

The dolphin's stars glowed as he broke free of the grasp of the horrid sounds and called through the rock face from whence he came. "Anyone, can you hear me? Please! Don't use the song, don't!"

The alien voice screeched to drown Ecco's voice. Okura sang from his bubble. "Little Chosen, it is useless! He will not let you sing for the other immortals."

The dolphin sighed, clacking his jaws as he became angry. "What is this place, anyway? The whales used to search for it, then it was hidden. They know that Paradise is gone, what is the use of saving it? Let the beasts have it!"

The Orca's eyes widened as he struggled with his own anger. "Dolphin, if the darkness hadn't corrupted the Seers you would have heard what I have heard for thousands of years. Do you know why whales sing? Do you know why Paradise is so important, that the Seers wanted in the end to give their lives to protecting it?"

"I don't CARE!" Ecco screeched, "This is impossible!"

"It's the realm of spirits, Ecco!" Okura snarled. "Don't you get it? The Seers protected this place because the dead need songs! The whales were the first to sing, that is why they could unlock Paradise in life. The Seers hid it from the mortals...you only enter when you DIE!" he screamed over the screeching of the alien voice.

The world stopped right then. He stared at Okura, trying to find truth in the immortal's words. The whales are protectors, singers for the dead? It's the realm that the gods made for the ones passed on?

Paradise...

_I stumbled upon the Heaven of singers..._

His eyes passed over the dead land, and as the parasitic veins pulsated, he seemed to hear more and more melodic crying. Songs of every type flooded into the fray of noises. The spirits were mourning. The dead were singing. It was true.

The dolphin screamed again. _The dead are fleeing, Chosen. The doors to the world of the living will open. We will have Earth._

"No..." Ecco seemed to snarl back. "No you won't. By Delphineus, you won't!"

But it was too late. As the black waters thrashed against the rock face, the veins closed in upon a central spot and seemed to grab the edges of rock with their tendrils. A swirling vortex started to open the gray stone.

Ecco was paralyzed by the non-songs. Okura was helpless, could only watch as the Paradise he had lived in was going to overwhelm the sea outside.

Suddenly, the Orca's eyes flew open, and Ecco thought he could hear a familiar voice bringing order among chaos.

* * *

**_Immortals!_** A gentle and yet commanding song interrupted the brooding thoughts of those waiting for Ecco on the other side. Scaroth thrashed his head around in surprise, nearly getting impaled by the narwhal nearby.

Bro-aht growled. "Back off, Sniper!"

"I heard something!" he growled back, more at himself than at Bro-aht.

Niemas even seemed to hear it as well. The calf shrunk back against his mother's bulk. Biransa nuzzled him closely as she clacked her jaws to calm the others. "It's the Asterite."

Glacier glanced around as if looking for the source of the voice. Only Sawtooth remained oblivious, the giant sperm whale floating as he wondered what made the smaller ones whirl in surprise.

Scaroth stopped and inspected the warm niche that Ecco had entered. The warm air hit him full in the face, nearly as strong as a torrent of volcanic heat from the deepest trench geysers. "Grr! Something's wrong!"

**_Indeed, something is wrong! I cannot sing to all of you for much longer, something is drowning me. The portal to Paradise is being opened by the malevolence...it must be locked until it is gone._**

Four pairs of eyes surveyed the dark niche before them. Glacier sighed, afraid of what he was about to say. "If the gate is opening, then we haven't a use from the Keystone Song. We can enter and help the great Ecco."

**_No. A key has two uses...to unlock, and to lock. The Keystone Song must lock the gates, and doing so will free an immortal from within. As he has told Ecco, enter, and put the dead to rest._**

Sawtooth glanced down upon the others as they turned to look at him. Without being told, he gave a slight nod. "I will protect your flukes, little friends. You will protect Ecco."

At that instant, the warm waters seemed to come at them faster, at full strength. The cold of the north waters lifted from their skin, and the ice itself seemed to back away from the fire in the ocean. A swirling vortex of light sparked in the fissure like a gate to the heavens.

Bro-aht smirked as he passed the others, lancing at the hole with his strength. "Let's go, Snipers! Glacier!"

"Oooooh, for once I want to lead that brute _away_ from trouble..." the beluga moaned as he followed the narwhal.

"No way a spear-nose is going to beat an Orca to a fight!" Scaroth called after and started toward the gate, but he was stopped by a call from Biransa.

As the Sperm whale started to echo songs of ancients, songs sung by the protectors and singers of the stars, the whales' ballad escaping his jaws, the waters seemed to silence. The ice seemed to listen as well...the air, the wind...it was the beauty of life that flowed through the giant singer as he started to put his huge bulk into the niche.

Only Scaroth, Biransa, and the calf stayed frozen as he awaited what she called him for.

"Scaroth," Biransa sighed, casting her gaze away from him as if shyly. "When this is over..."

The brute chuckled, interrupting her. "Don't talk like we're going to die, it's going to be over fast. Now come on, the gate is almost closing. Bring the little one with you."

Biransa sighed as she retreated with the big male.

_Just don't die before I get a chance to let you have a son again._

* * *

A powerful song cut through the screeches and screams that claimed Ecco's mind. Everything stopped. The waters stopped lapping against the rocks, listening to the ballad that was the Keystone Song. _So, Sawtooth can sing it after all..._

The notes reverberated, pounding as swiftly as a heartbeat across the land and into the waters of Paradise. Okura shuddered as he felt his fins move again. His prison shattered, and for the first time in thousands of years he could swim in waters as warm as the life the sun gave. He released a song of elation upon his freedom.

Ecco shook his head as he watched the veins on the land shudder as if a blow was given. They retracted from the rock face, the gate slowly shutting as the forms of his comrades raced through. Bro-aht, Scaroth, Glacier, Biransa, and even little Niemas tasted the black water as the gate closed with a flash, the song ending abruptly and pulsating, locked with the image of a sperm whale etched like a heiroglyph in the rock face.

The cetaceans glanced about in near awe, having finally seen the fabled Paradise not as it had seemed.

Bro-aht chuckled uneasily. "So this is where everything goes to die? I'll wish the Orcas to the underworld when next I fight one. That'll be mercy."


	19. Growth

A silent, protective circle of singers surrounded the small calf, Niemas, as he kept close to his mother. None of the banter had gone on between Scaroth and Bro-aht...none of the suggestions of peace came from Glacier...none of the inklings of wisdom and hope came from Biransa. 

They were singers all of the same side, all of the same determination, all of the same faith and power and dependency. As much as Scaroth hated to admit being a team with prey, as much as Bro-aht hated to admit being a team with a demon dolphin...the job was all the same.

They were led by Okura as they passed through an endless chain of dark veins...until they could see where they converged on the land, and in one particular point in the sea. It was then they could hear the familiar death snarls and clacking jaws that belonged to the Seer-Beasts.

Occasionally, Okura would glance behind at the others...mostly with some concern for the small one. "I am finding it hard to believe that a newborn has a part to play."

Biransa kept her gaze forward as she answered. "It was an unfortunate accident, or so I gather...but there is not to worry. If a Seer said he was born immortal, I am forced to simply trust him. I cannot abandon my calf."

A simple nod was given from the immortal. "You can trust the Seers."

The group seemed to round the inlet, though perhaps to Ecco they were still all in the bay. He spat the water that went into his mouth, for it was foul and tasted of many different things gathered from the land: dirt, blood, plants, soil...and more blood...and it clouded more and more the distance the group swam.

They tensed as they saw the first line of the army that they encountered...eyes upon malicious eyes belonging to the hideous Seer-Beasts, green and red half-shark-half-dolphin monsters. They snapped at them, jaws wide open in anticipation for meat, eyes locked on the Orcas that they were programmed to hunt...eyes wary of the tusk that the narwhal could impale them with...

Okura's jaws snapped with a resounding clack as he calmly made his way through the Seer-Beasts lurking in the dark. As if out of fear, they backed away, making a trail that led straight into their stronghold. Still their gaze followed them, willing to charge at the food that swam freely in front of them, yet still they were held back by the power that the immortal Orca still commanded in the realm, prisoner or no.

Ecco cringed as he kept going over in his head about the alien presence that used the Seers' powers to govern these beasts. They couldn't have been Vortex...or Foe...neither creature had the power to dive into Paradise, the realm of the dead itself.

The screeching and gnashing kept on behind them as they beheld with amazed eyes a gigantic structure jutting out from the land and sea. It looked almost like a giant purple glyph...the thing was made of crystal that held reflections within them. Ecco saw his reflection and watched the stars upon his brow glow and penetrate into a small prism of colors. The others paid no heed to their appearances.

"The parasitic veins snake from this device," Okura said with a low voice as he examined it. "There is no way to break it."

Bro-aht seemed to scratch at the crystal surface thoughtfully with his tusk...the others looked around, searching for something to break or a door of some sort. Niemas shivered, spasming as if he had gotten a chill. Nuzzling against his mother hadn't helped much with it.

But as the light on Ecco's brow moved through the mirror, the truth dawned on him from what he sighted within. "No, it's another illusion. The veins don't stop here. In fact, I can see through the darkness inside..." his voice started to trail.

Glacier peered from behind him. "What is it, Ecco?"

Then, as if it had a mind of its own, the crystal answered the beluga's question. The light shifted, the cloudy darkness wavered, and they saw that it wasn't a building...it was a prison.

Scaroth and Biransa recognized Ronon, Seidrac, and all of the other pods that had been under their command. Bro-aht recognized his narwhal brothers and sisters. Glacier saw his kind.

And beyond their pods...there were whales. Dozens of them, each of their giant bodies pressed inside the crystal. Humpback, Blue, many other rorquals...

Dead. They were all dead. Frozen in time by this crystal. None moved, none breathed, none looked up when they heard the shocked cries of their immortal relatives outside or their summons and demands to awaken. They didn't stir. The bodies of the Orcas were covered in scars that perpetually dripped with entrails.

Ecco and the others backfinned, recoiling from the horror, but Okura stayed still and simply stared. "The alien beast...so he killed them after all, to fuel himself."

"So that's where the whales were, all this time...not one of them were found in the arctic waters..." Scaroth mused with hatred in his rough voice.

Okura nodded. "It's the real truth. It was them the Seer-Beasts got to first. Whales knew Paradise the best of all, and were hunted, as many as could come to the waters. After that, there were none to warn the Orcas of the advancing army..."

Suddenly, Ecco screamed as his head throbbed with lightning-quick pain. One by one, the other immortals screamed too...each one spouting chains of curses from their own pods. Only Okura had endured it, though he heard the voice just as well.

_The singers know the truth..._it mocked. _So fight for the truth. At long last, fueled by the anger and power of the Seers, fueled by the life of this Paradise, killing spirits and entrapping the last Orcas on the planet...I live. I shall suit this planet for my Vortedrode masters, once I open the gate to the realm of the living._

The land seemed to rock on its hinges. Tides were caused by the earthquakes that it endured. And the darkness finally showed itself.

It had a small ball, as round and gelatinous as a Metasphere, for a brain. Its limbs were a hideous mix: fins lining beneath arms with grasping claws. The jaws mirrored that of the Seer-Beasts, its own creations. Its roar was deafening to all that heard it. The bodies in its crystal prison were suddenly gone, but mere husks of bodies in the wake of its undying need for the life energies of all.

And the creature was huge. It towered over the sea, just half the size of a blue whale. With each motion of its breath, the veins criss-crossing over the land pumped harder. It drank the energies from the ocean.

Blood-red eyes fixed upon the immortals before it. _The gates are soon to open. Come at me..._it hissed.

"Much obliged!" Scaroth snarled as he shook with raw anger, the memories of his own pod fresh in his mind. "I will avenge my son, AND my pod!" The Orca charged at it, jaws wide open, ready to strike.

One of the limbs reached out to Scaroth as he latched onto the flesh, digging his teeth into it, spilling the foul-tasting liquid from its skin. It howled in pain and tore Scaroth from the arm. The waters became crimson in the process as the claws impaled Scaroth.

"No!" Biransa cried at the scene. "Scaroth!"

Bro-aht charged next. He impaled another limb. But again, he was tossed aside, injured as much as Scaroth was, his tusk broken painfully in two.

Okura and Ecco faced the others that were left. "Use your immortality, your powers of song, all that you've gotten from the Asterite! Together! NOW!"

Ecco charged forward, Okura by his side. Biransa, Glacier, and soon, Scaroth and Bro-aht...

The creature howled as the songs pierced its skin and malice. A fin was severed. A limb was torn in two.

But still it fought against the fierce immortals, taking them out with their claws, ravaging their skin...until finally it was weakened...

The singers were clinging to the edge of victory when it happened. Its jaws opened, and instantly the color started to drain from its body. A swirling vortex appeared around its mouth, and to the horror of everyone else, it had sucked the closest immortal within...

Glacier was devoured. And with his disappearance, a new limb started reappearing.

"He's using us to regenerate!" Okura shouted. "Get away, all of you!"

But it was too late...Scaroth, Biransa...each of them were slowly getting sucked into the vortex that the creature was pouring its energy into creating, just to devour them all...

Ecco started fighting back, but was soon drawn to the vortex too. He pumped his flukes with all of his might, when suddenly, he gazed out at the remaining immortal.

Niemas was no longer a calf. To Ecco's amazement, he had suddenly grown into a full-bodied Orca. His eyes were as red as the monster's as the dark energy started flowing into him...

_Just another illusion..._Ecco decided wearily before he blanked out...


	20. Transition

_I'm not about to die...my mind, I... fate wouldn't allow it...but death comes for me, just as swiftly as did the others. There could be no survivors from such a beast...a beast that transcends death... _

But I thought only time could transcend death...

**Time is but one of many elements that transcends death. Everything lives forever, but nothing sees forever. Even immortals know that.**

Ecco's eyes seemed to pry open with effortless ease, as if he'd just been awakened from sleep. Dazed, the young dolphin glanced at his surroundings...

Clouds of many bands of color mottled the sky...but it was a sky that transformed...slowly and gently the atmosphere rolled, then rippled as if all around him was a reflection on the surface of the ocean at twilight or dusk. The patterns were everywhere at once.

He had a feeling this was the true paradise...not the hell that he had just left behind...

From out of his thoughts, and everywhere around him, the colors reverberated to a new presence. **That paradise that you left...it was created to bring comfort to those who left a life for another...left mortality and pain to become the true life. Tainted with the Seers' anger, harnessed by alien ghosts, it was becoming as of nothing.**

The song that Ecco's mind tried to focus on was like nothing he had ever heard before...it sounded like a chorus of all of the Earth's singers, the finest and the dull, the resonant and the echos...it sang like every whale, every dolphin, and every porpoise. And even with the dolphin tongue mixed with whale tongue, it was all one language, the language that the Seers spoke...

Comforted by the voice, Ecco glanced about the wild array of twilight-colored clouds. "Where am I? Who is there?" he asked slowly, mystified.

The clouds parted, simply ripped like a great seam in space. It revealed to him a void of darkness, dotted by billions upon billions of stars. And in the midst of those stars, a dolphin formed.

He was a grand sight, a god with fins. Eyes that took in the stars and gave his gaze the virtue of wisdom and power.

His eternal, comforting gaze locked upon Ecco, staring without emotion. **I have many names from many tongues...but you have already begun to guess who I might be to you.**

The stars on Ecco's head brightened, one after the other, until they mirrored the shape of the great dolphin.

He was staring straight into the eyes of Delphineus.

Ecco could have frozen with amazement, but there was no such emotion...the only emotion was familiarity, a singular bond with the gods.

"Tell me..." Ecco began, whistling a delphine tune softly. "The entire battle...was it worth it? What happened? Did we save Paradise?"

**Paradise is but another world, a sanctuary, and to many, a concept. Thrice now, you've saved much more than the realm that the spirits call their own. But you share a destiny with another.**

"I do?" Ecco asked in a tone that mirrored quiet amazement. "Who?"

Delphineus started to fade before his eyes, and a jolt of energy raced through Ecco's body. He could feel himself becoming whole again...he could feel his physical pain as he was being discharged from the god's realm, and back to his own.

**The one I gave Paradise to, to keep until his dying day, when it will finally open, and Earth will see everlasting peace. When the true immortal dies. **

Your job is finished, Ecco. His job begins now.

At the word "now", Ecco came back to himself, his only thought was pondering the riddle.

_When the true immortal dies..._

* * *

Whalesong. Far in the distance, whalesong could be heard. It was a song of joy and laughter, mingling with their unchanged notes of love for their mates. 

Typical of the whales to only sing of their own business...but for every word that came from their haunting cries, nobody has ever heard word of the strange place simply named Paradise again.

Ecco the dolphin awakened in a familiar grotto. It was dark far below, and the caves made by the giant canyon walls still held mysteries within their corridors.

He smiled as his eyes registered familiar faces along with him.

Biransa swam with Niemas, her calf, as he seemed to gratefully rest in her slipstream. Scaroth kept near them, as protective as ever, a hungry eye kept, as always, upon Bro-aht.

The narwhal nodded a quiet hello at Ecco, and the dolphin noticed that half of his spear was gone.

Ecco hadn't imagined it. Somehow, they actually did survive a very trying battle. Next to Bro-aht swam Glacier, his ally.

But he didn't see the final companion, Sawtooth. Then the dolphin remembered...Sawtooth was part of the barrier now. Paradise...did it even still exist?

**_Welcome back to reality, my little Singer,_** a great voice called to Ecco from behind. Turning around, he saw the great, mysterious entity, spiraling endlessly in a gentle double-helix with its multi-colored globes, each pulsating with its own energy.

"Asterite...I'm glad to see you."

**_As I am you, friend. The battle in Paradise indeed came close. I was only relieved to reach Okura in time to help all of you._**

Ecco's eyes shot open as he remembered the horrible scene, of the imprisoned members of the different pods, and every whale...but, he was hearing whalesong outside of the grotto now...

"So, everyone survived?" the dolphin asked, almost afraid of what the answer might be.

The Asterite's globes seemed to brighten. **_Yes. The life energy that was drained from paradise was given back to everyone and everything that was inside. Everyone is freed. The whales...Ronon, Seidrac...all of the pods. The Seer-Beasts are destroyed, along with its master._**

"Amazing..." Ecco whispered breathlessly. "But, how was the creature destroyed?"

"It destroyed itself," Scaroth interrupted with a smirk. "That's all this floating mass would tell us, anyway. I don't care, so long as it's gone."

Ecco turned back to the Asterite. "And...Okura?"

**_Okura still lives. He does as the Seers did...he guards Paradise now._**

"In all of my years of hearing the legends..." Biransa began thoughtfully, "I never would have thought that we would have seen it for ourselves. But...it's not there anymore, is it? The gate isn't in the north waters anymore..."

**_No. The gate was sealed when Sawtooth locked it with the Keystone Song and his own body. It is hidden from all eyes, forever. No whale knows where it is now...yet they will still travel north, for it is their way._**

"Of course..." Bro-aht rolled his eyes. "Figures we'd still hear those noise-makers in our home ice."

Ecco chuckled as he glanced up at the Asterite. "So, what is next? What will become of everyone here?"

**_Not even I know. Fate has many twists in its tide that you will just have to swim with. However, you can be assured that everyone will be able to go back to their former lives. The Orcas will stay together again...bar for one._**

Ecco tilted his head. "Who?"

The Asterite was silent. The dolphin turned to the other Orca, whose looks were solemn and sad.

"Cariu is dead," Biransa started, slowly, sadly. "But it was her time. I am only sorry that _Diricha_ went with open wounds and a tattered heart."

Scaroth sighed, nodding. "We will sing the Song of Passing for her as soon as we reach a rest point out of these seas. And sing of Rebirth to claim a new _Diricha_ of the pods."

"That title belongs to Ronon," Biransa nodded, drawing her calf closely. "He is her son, after all."

The Asterite glowed slightly. **_Actually, Biransa...I have the feeling that you should be Matriarch. You are the one who bore a heavy burden during the battle, and you saw what had happened. Niemas, your calf, is the first immortal to ever be born in millenia upon this earth. And your wisdom matches that of Cariu._**

The mother turned her gaze away shyly with uncertainty. "Would Ronon see it that way?"

**_He will. He honors his mother's wishes, even through her spirit._**

All was silent for a few moments. Then, Biransa nodded. "Then so be it...I would be honored to take the title of _Diricha_ in Cariu's place. But before I do..." She turned to the others, glancing at Scaroth.

The male eyed her curiously as she spoke. "Scaroth...you too bore a heavy pain upon yourself...your pod was entirely decimated by those beasts, your son included...and I want..." she cleared her throat. "Well, your courageous heart is proof. It would be an honor should you reign alongside me as Patriarch, and guardian."

The male cast his gaze instantly to the ground, almost as if he were blushing. _So, you knew I had begun to love you, Biransa._

Lifting his head proudly, he sang, "I swear upon my life, Biransa, that I will protect you and Niemas as loyally as I have done Cariu. And it would be an honor to rule alongside you."

The mother smiled and swam forth to give him a small nuzzle, which almost made the old warrior melt.

"Hah!" Bro-aht laughed. "Finally! I've seen a weakness in the demon!"

Scaroth snarled and turned to the narwhal. "Watch it!"

There was a laugh from the others as they turned to leave the Asterite. Ecco could hear songs from the beluga, the narwhal, and even songs from Ronon and Seidrac as they all greeted their comrades again and sang of happiness.

Only he and the Asterite were alone in the grotto now. The dolphin was frozen, he couldn't leave, for his mind was filled with too many questions.

**_Something still troubles you, friend._**

"Just one small question. The others aren't...still immortal, are they?"

**_No. Before you came to, I relinquished the two Orcas, the narwhal, and the beluga of their powers. They are back to normal now._**

Ecco thought about that, then turned back to the Asterite with an incredulous look. "You only mentioned two Orca. What about the calf, Niemas?"

The Asterite seemed to hesitate. **_I could not relinquish Niemas's immortality. He gained his powers from his mother, as I gave them to her. Therefore it's as if he was born a true immortal. He will live on for centuries, seeing many things that for now he could never comprehend._**

"Oh..." Ecco nodded, understanding, though amazed. "So, exactly what happened in Paradise? I am not fully confident that the beast destroyed itself on its own."

**_It is hard to explain, and even for me, hard to believe. I will show you the answer._**

Ecco closed his eyes as intense visions flowed through his mind.

Of the immortals swiftly being swallowed...

Of Niemas, the one left behind, who had suddenly taken the dark energies released into the land...and without knowing it, using the powers to make him grow as strong as an adult Orca...he saw as he charged, red-eyed, toward the beast, which had been weakened greatly by creating that vortex of energy...

Ecco snapped from his visions, amazed. "So, the beast didn't destroy itself...Niemas did it...but, why didn't you tell the others?"

**_They knew, for they sensed...but Niemas wouldn't know what happened, not for a long time. They will keep the secret from him, for the best. But I fear he may find out himself someday._**

Ecco nodded. He knew that this was all the Asterite would tell him. Unlike the Vortex, there was no mention of the return of the alien creatures...these Vortedrode...upon the planet again.

Paradise was locked. All was well...but for how long?

**_Well, my young friend, should you not return to your home?_**

The dolphin nodded without a second thought. "Yes...and, Asterite, I must relinquish my powers as well. Somehow I sense I will no longer need them."

**_Very well..._**

And so, as Ecco's extra strength lifted from him...as his powers of destructive song were once again reduced to harmless sonar...as his perpetual youth was replaced with that of a dolphin just going into his elderly years...

All the hero could do was try to shake the premonitions out of his head.

* * *

"So...this is Paradise..." Cariu whispered as her eyes gazed over the waters, a beauty the likes of which she had never seen before.

She was a spirit now, and the place would be her home from now on.

As Okura watched her, and all of the other spirits that had passed eons before sing their eternal songs, he wondered just how it all came to pass that the gate to Paradise wasn't hidden in a deep crevace on Earth, or in a dark cavern, or in an unreachable pit...

The gates of Paradise, in truth, were stored nowhere else but right in the memory of its savior, waiting for its time to reveal itself to him.

The last true immortal.

THE END


End file.
